What About Me?
by Shekiah Rosay
Summary: Anko's mission goes wrong, and she is found alone in the woods without any memory of the previous two weeks. She finds out that she is pregnant with Orochimaru's child, which brings up painful memories of the past - but what does it mean for her future?
1. Search and Rescue Mission

Story-line-wise, this is probably one of the more complicated things I've written. Lots of fun plot twists, and a lot of central characters. Speaking of which, we'll be seeing a lot of Kakashi, Anko, Orochimaru, Kiba, Hinata, Sakura, and Tsunade. Probably a dash of Kabuto and Sasuke in there as well. The pairings... well, I'm still debating that one myself. :P There are just TOO many possibilities.

But for what it's worth, I don't own Naruto. Enjoy! :D

* * *

**Foreward**

* * *

"_I want to remember this moment forever," Anko whispered, her head rested on Orochimaru's bare chest. Though her eyes were shut and she couldn't see, he gave her a slightly amused smile._

"_That's a tall order," he hissed in her ear. "I've erased your memory once before, you know. How can you tell I'm not going to do it again?"_

"_You wouldn't do that."_

_Anko sighed and stretched, her silhouette almost artistic in the dying light of Orochimaru's candle. As she turned, she noticed the way he continued to gaze at her. His expression was expectant… and almost hungry. She raised an eyebrow, as though encouraging him to voice his thoughts._

"_You're quite beautiful," her former sensei observed. "And strong, too. I haven't seen a woman of your caliber in quite some time."_

"_That's enough," Anko drawled, climbing back under the covers beside him. "You know you're forgiven, you can quit trying to win me over."_

_As he watched Anko rest her head on their shared pillow and closed her eyes again, Orochimaru almost regretted having to give her up so soon. She had trusted him again so easily it was almost endearing. Well, he'd admit that she fought at first. But he was able to reason with her, all the while playing on her every childhood fear and insecurity. In less than forty-eight hours, he had her truly believing that the curse mark had only been a test of her stamina and a way to mark her so that she might one day return to him._

_It was remarkable how simple it could be to convince someone of something they wanted to believe so badly._

_And it was too bad… yes, really, too bad… that her trust was so terribly misplaced. Their tryst would be long over by the sunrise…

* * *

_

**Ch. 1**

* * *

"I imagine you four have guessed why I called you here," Tsunade said. Her voice was all-business, as it tended to be when she was dealing out high-ranked missions. She fixed her steely gaze on each of the four ninjas sitting across from her in turn, finally settling on the sensei in charge.

"Kakashi, you're going to lead the mission, naturally, and Inuzuka Kiba will be your second-in-command."

The silver-haired jounin and the Chuunin-level dog trainer exchanged looks of mild interest.

"We've never worked together before," Kiba reminded Tsunade. "Are you sure it'll work?"

"It I weren't sure, I wouldn't have assigned it," Tsunade shot back. "And if you had taken the time to look around, Inuzuka, I'm certain you would have realized what I'm sure most of your team has already managed to put together: this is the _ideal_ missing-shinobi search squad."

"She's right…" Sakura marveled, looking around at her assigned teammates. "The two in change both work alongside dogs – and are experienced trackers. Then there's Hinata - a byakugan user, so we can search dense areas without getting ourselves into danger, and then - "

Sakura paused, as though she had realized something she wasn't supposed to say out loud.

"Don't leave yourself out," Tsunade reminded her newest student. "I needed a medical ninja for this team as well."

"Medical ninja?" Kakashi asked softly. "What does that have to do with finding a mission person?"

Tsunade stiffened noticeably.

"The kunoichi in question was assigned a mission that should have taken her around a week to complete. She's been missing for almost fifteen days now."

"And you don't know in what condition we can expect to find her," Sakura finished softly, making it clear why she had neglected to call attention to herself earlier on.

Kakashi paled.

"Who are we looking for, Lady Tsunade?" he asked.

"Mitarashi Anko."

Kiba and Hinata exchanged a look. The former swallowed.

"Not to be rude, Lady Hokage, but Anko-sensei's pretty… _badass_," Kiba said. "Do you have any idea what could have delayed her for so long?"

"Several suspicions, but none that will be of any use to you," Tsunade replied curtly. "On a more official note, she left the village headed almost due East, delivering a set of documents to the Village Hidden in the Rain. I gave the mission to a high-ranked jounin because I'd heard accounts of several gangs camping out in the woods on the east side of the fire country."

"Do you think one of those took her captive?" Hinata asked softly.

"Not a chance," Tsunade replied. "Anko would have made quick work of any of those disorganized, non-shinobi thugs. Whomever - or whatever - is delaying her has to be one of our kind."

The four sat in silence for a minute or two. Kakashi finally took a deep breath and said what was on all of their minds.

"So are we searching for a live kunoichi… or are we on a mission to recover a body?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. Though she never would have admitted it, her anxiety and frustration resulted from the fact that she, too, feared for Anko's saftey. It would have broken her heart – both as hokage and simply as a kunoichi herself - to see such a gifted ninja cut down in her prime. Tsunade had seen it too many times before. And worse yet, she knew how Kakashi had changed since Rin's death, and she had a nasty suspicion that that would occur once more, on an even grander scale, if harm came to Mitarashi Anko. And that, Tsunade simply couldn't bear.

Shaking her head and trying to abandon such grim thoughts, the Hokage took a quick sip of the sake sitting on her desk.

"You're looking for a purple-haired kunoichi in a khaki trench coat and fishnets. The rest is up to you four – and her own dumb luck."

Kakashi sighed.

"Then I guess that means there isn't a second to lose," he announced, getting to his feet. "Kiba, Hinata, Sakura… let's get moving."

The four left the office in a numb silence, with Akamaru trotting along behind. When they were finally out the door, Tsunade took the opportunity to wipe her eyes on her sleeve.

_That Kakashi better do a damn good job, that's all she could say…for his _own_ sake.__  
_


	2. Bittersweet Success

"Man, all this hiking is rough," Sakura muttered, shifting the weight of her backpack to her other shoulder.

"Well, it's only going to get rougher if we run into those gangs Tsunade was talking about," Kakashi replied. "And that goes out to everybody. We need to stay on our toes."

"Gotcha," Kiba said. "But you know… it is strange we haven't run into anyone yet. We've been out almost four hours. Another hour and night will fall."

"That's true," Kakashi agreed. "After all this time, one would think we'd have run into somebody… And Tsunade _did_ make it sound like those thugs were scattered all through these woods… It just doesn't add up. Hey, Hinata, how about doing a sweep for us?"

Hinata nodded quickly, pleased to be of service. The group stopped for a moment and watched intently as she closed her eyes momentarily, focused deeply, and opened them again. After looking around her for a moment or two – and turning so she could sweep the byakugan's blind spot – Hinata shook her head.

"There isn't anybody. For miles. I see a few abandoned campsites, though." her voice softened, as though she was not as eager to report the next part. "It also… it looks like the camps were abandoned quickly, like people were fleeing."

The rest of the group was silent for a moment, before Kiba finally sighed.

"That doesn't bode well for Anko-sensei at all."

"Not in the least," Kakashi agreed, his voice low. "But Pakkun still has her scent. Does Akamaru?"

"Hasn't lost it yet," Kiba said proudly. "And neither have I. But you know… if these clouds actually do cause the rain they've been threatening, it will get a lot more difficult."

Kakashi bit his lip.

"Then we just have to press on further until all hope is lost. And I warn you – it will be quite some time before I'm willing to give up."

The other three nodded, and with a collective grunt, they picked up their packs and hit the trail once again.

At ten o'clock, night had long since fallen.

And rain was beginning to do the same.

Sakura felt as though each of her muscles had started throbbing with an individual pain and vigor. She also felt miserably hot and dirty from kicking past roots and stepping over dead logs all day. When the first drop hit her in the forehead, she actually welcomed the rain. It was cool and fresh – not to mention it somehow broke the monotony of the hike.

The rain picked up a little more, and Sakura opened her mouth to catch a drop or two. She had just gotten enough that she felt a little less hot and thirsty when she heard Kiba swear behind her.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked her teammate softly.

The dog trainer's lips had peeled back from his teeth, and he wrinkled his nose.

"I've lost it."

About that time, Pakkun returned from his trek ahead to inform his master that he, too, had lost the scent.

"Not your fault," Kakashi said softly, not bothering to disguise the disappointment in his voice either way. "You can go on back to the village. No need for all of us to be wet and miserable."

With a *pop* and a puff of smoke, Pakkun was gone.

"Kiba, is Akamaru still getting anything?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, but it's only a matter of time," Kiba replied. "Anko's scent has been getting weaker for the last hour anyway, and the rain's just going to wash it away entirely."

Kakashi closed his visible eye.

"Okay then. We're at a clearing anyway, and we're not doing anybody any favors by running ourselves ragged. Kids, we're going to set up camp."

Despite the dismal mood that surrounded her, Sakura probably could have wept for joy.

"I'll set up shelter," she volunteered, unclasping the tents from where they had been affixed to Kiba's backpack. The sooner they got the campsite set up, the sooner she could relax her aching limbs. "Hinata, do you want to look for water?"

The more timid girl nodded, accepting everyone's empty canteens.

"Don't go too far," Kakashi warned. "I want to keep this party together. Whatever took Anko could still be around waiting for one of us."

"There's a creek just beyond those trees," Hinata replied. "I saw it with my byakugan. I won't be far."

"Very well. But it's pitch black out there – take one of the lanterns from Sakura's backpack. It's small enough to light your path, but not large enough to call attention to you from a distance."

Hinata nodded, and Sakura immediately prepared a lantern, using her body to shield the wick from the downpour as she lit it. Sakura also got one ready for Kiba and Akamaru, who had volunteered to go find firewood before the rain managed to penetrate enough of the forest that all the available kindling would all be wet and unusable.

Hinata took the canteens and her lantern and disappered into the trees. Kiba, on the other hand, placed the handle of his lantern in Akamaru's mouth and hopped on the back of the big white dog. This freed his hands to hold the blanket in which he would wrap the firewood. They, too, trotted off into the woods promptly.

And were instantly disheartened by what they found.

Not only had the rain managed to make its way through the trees, the very floor of the forest was soaked. With Akamaru's every step, his paws sunk a little deeper into the mud. Even when Kiba found patches of grass for them to cross so they didn't sink into the muck entirely, the ground squished beneath them.

Then the wind picked up, almost causing Kiba to lose his balance.

"_Shit_," he muttered under his breath, tying the blanket around himself in defeat and using his again-free hands to grip more of the fur on the back of Akamaru's neck. The wood might get wet (or, at least, wet-_ter_) that way, but at least he could be warm. Rain still pelted his face, each place it hit continuing to sting for a moment after the water had already run down to his chin. As he shuddered from the cold, Kiba remembered with dark amusement how unbearably sweaty the day's hike had been. Evidently the rain had brought some kind of cold front.

He was about ready to swear again when he was interrupted by a whine from Akamaru.

"What's up, boy?" Kiba asked with mild interest. He wasn't too concerned… as a human he resorted to profanity, but heaven knew, if he were a dog, he would be whining too.

Akamaru didn't reply, but instead set off at a mad dash up the path ahead.

"Hey! What gives?" Kiba demanded, throwing his arms around Akamaru's neck to keep his balance and burying his face beside a furry ear to stave off the sting of raindrops. The dog dove under low-hanging branches and over pushed-up roots with reckless abandon, seeming as though his only mission was to get wherever he was going as quickly as possible.

Finally, when the dog came to an abrupt halt, Kiba dared to open his eyes.

"Akamaru, wha – Oh!"

The tracking dog had accomplished what no human had managed in an entire day of searching – and in the midst of torrential rain. No doubt the breeze that had ignited Kiba's frustration had brought a whiff of scent with it, because Akamaru had come to a stop right beside the subject of their search: a lonely, soaked, and shivering Anko Mitarashi.

Kiba immediately vaulted off the dog's back to land beside the huddled figure in the khaki trenchcoat.

"Anko-sensei!" he exclaimed.

The girl looked up, her expression one of utterly hurt confusion.

"I'm here from the Leaf Village," Kiba continued, kneeling on the ground beside her. "We're here to help."

"Oh," she said, finally putting the pieces together. "I remember you – the dog kid. Are you… with anybody?"

"I'm part of a whole team that Tsunade sent to look for you," Kiba replied. "And they're all dying to see you. We need to get back as soon as possible."

"A search mission?" Anko demanded, smoothing loose tendrils of purple hair back from her face. Her frustrated tone, combined with the gesture of grooming, made Kiba hope that she had snapped out of her daze… at least a little.

"Why a search mission?" she demanded again.

Kiba thought the answer to that would be obvious, but he didn't want to offend her.

"You've been gone so long, we were all scared out of our minds."

"… Oh."

"You're soaking wet," Kiba muttered, slightly embarrassed by how much he sounded like his mother. "Take off the trench coat and put on this blanket – it's a little wet, but better than that coat of yours."

Anko raised an eyebrow, but acquiesced, handing him the coat and sitting there in her fishnets for the length of time it took Kiba to put the blanket around her shoulders. He then put his arm around Anko and helped her get to her feet, supporting her weight when she slipped in the mud. Akamaru, knowing what was coming, squatted down so that Kiba could slide Anko onto his back.

"We'll keep a steady pace so you can keep your balance. We're about a half-mile from the campsite," Kiba said.

Anko nodded, and the trip began.

They were about halfway back when Anko finally spoke up.

"You say I was gone awhile, huh?"

"Yeah," Kiba replied slowly. It struck him as odd that she hadn't been keeping track of the days. Most responsible jounin always took that responsibility, and would doubtlessly find a way to contact the hokage if a mission was going to take a lot longer than planned.

"How long?"

Kiba paused.

"This is day fifteen."

"Shit!" Anko exclaimed.

But then she fell silent again.

Kiba had been disinclined to press her too much for information – he was mostly just glad to have her back at all – but the situation was getting weirder and weirder. He couldn't help but give voice to just a little bit of his curiosity.

"Um, do you mind if I ask what kept you?" Kiba finally demanded, turning around to face the waterlogged kunoichi.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I do mind," Anko replied smartly. "Because I have no idea either."


	3. Welcoming the Prodigal

Okay, more of this story! :) I'm still debating about where it's going to go. I'm sure that's not very comforting coming from the author, but I have a pretty good idea. No worries. Thank you to all my reviewers – and I'd love to see a response from a few more of you. Hint-hint-hint. Heehee. Anyway, enjoy part 3!

* * *

Before Kiba could come up with a decent response, he suddenly found himself on the edge of the clearing where the rest of his team waited. Akamaru crept up beside him, nudging his shoulder. Kiba nodded. He was also taken aback by the neat circle of tents – and how dry and warm they looked. Kakashi had evidently managed to get a roaring fire started in the rain _and_ without wood. Kiba could only assume that it was somehow chakra-induced, both from the impossibly of the endeavor under normal circumstances and from the way the copy-nin still stood beside it making hand signs.

However, as soon as Kakashi spotted the small party on the edge of the clearing, he gasped and took off at a run.

"Anko!" he exclaimed, lifting her off Akamaru's back the second he reached them.

"Calm down, calm down," Anko muttered, squirming out of his arms. "I can stand up by myself."

Kakashi knew Anko well enough to heed her words and take a step back, but he was still right at her shoulder as she stumbled towards the fire.

"Anko, you don't know how glad I am to see you," he said softly, as she spread out Kiba's blanket and they each took a seat. "When the rain started and Pakkun lost your scent, I was beginning to give up hope."

"No kidding. I was beginning to wonder myself there, for a second."

A moment of silence passed. It was easier to sit outside than it had been before, because the rain was beginning to let up and the fire provided some warmth. The two jounin were comfortable enough to sit for a moment or two, but it was inevitable that Kakashi would speak up – he was just too curious to sit around and wait for an explanation.

Sure enough, he broke the silence before a full minute could pass.

"What happened?" Kakashi breathed, staring at her almost unblinkingly as he moved closer to the fire, hoping to warm his clothes.

Anko sighed.

"Kakashi… I don't have a story. Which automatically makes it a long story. I know that doesn't make any sense at all, but I'm tired and hungry… and I think I might have broken my left leg. I need a few minutes."

Both of the rescue team's female members must have been standing in the background waiting to get a word in, because the moment Anko spoke, Sakura was beside her.

"Which one?" the medic-nin demanded promptly.

Anko raised an eyebrow yet again.

"I like the service here," she mused, lamely attempting a joke. However, her expression quickly became one of pain as she stretched and changed positions.

"Left leg, to answer your question."

Sakura immediately – and shamelessly – pulled up Anko's skirt to the thigh, revealing a bruise the size of her own fist. However, the rest of the leg in question was also covered in random cuts and scratches, several of which looked like they were well on their way to infection.

"Um… there's going to be more involved in treating you," Sakura said quietly. "I can give you something for the pain, but I need to get you cleaned up first."

Anko shrugged.

"Honestly I'm just impressed there's a medic-nin on a search mission at all. Leave it to Tsunade."

Sakura smiled, appreciating the compliment on her sensei's behalf. However, she knew there was work to be done. Time to start allocating jobs and setting up something resembling a sterile environment in the miserable wilderness where they found themselves.

"Before I can get started, we need some hot water," she announced.

"I can fill and heat up one of our pots," Kakashi said. "We can move some of it into a bowl for you to clean Anko's cuts. Whatever's left in the pot, I can use to make some ramen."

"Sounds good," Sakura agreed. "Hinata, can you help me move Anko into our tent? We'll use that as our clinic."

"Oka – "

Hinata was only permitted half of her response before Anko interrupted.

"I can move myself. What is it with you people and doubting my mobility?"

Sakura rolled her eyes behind Anko's back, eliciting a silent giggle from Hinata. The two younger women proceeded to follow Anko, who had already begun limping, into the nearest canvas tent. They both brought lanterns with them so that Sakura could see what she was doing.

"Okay, I assume this is the part where I strip?" Anko asked, already beginning to pull off her fishnet shirt.

"Yep," Sakura said. "You get to keep your underwear, though."

Anko chuckled.

"Goody."

As Anko removed articles of clothing, Sakura worked on affixing the lanterns to the ceiling of the tent with a roll of twine from her pocket. Using a couple of knots she had learned from helping Ino in the flower shop, she managed to successfully tie up both, providing the space with an almost cozy atmosphere. By that time, the shadow of someone dropping off a bowl of water could be seen outside the tent.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura called.

"No problem. Can you guys feel the heat from the campfire?"

"Yep," Anko called before either of the others could respond. "And thank goodness, because I'm _naked!_"

Hinata's face turned red. Sakura doubled over laughing.

"Okay, now that I've made his night, let's get this show on the road," Anko sighed, pulling her hair back so it would be out of Sakura's way. "Clean me up."

Hinata reached an arm outside and retrieved the bowl of hot water. Steam rose from it in tendrils, visible when it crossed paths with the light from the hanging lanterns. Sakura got a clean rag from her pack and dipped it in the water.

"You're pretty bad off," she observed, taking a good look at Anko for the first time. The latter snorted.

"You're telling me. My _bruises_ have bruises."

Sakura shook her head, smiling at Anko's ever-present humor, and got to work swabbing out cuts and applying ointment and bandages. It was slow work, punctuated only occasionally by a hiss from Anko as the hot water hit a sore place. Hinata, the newly-recruited orderly, quickly lost interest with her job providing wet rags and unwrapping gauze.

"Anko-sensei?" she asked softly.

Anko inclined her head to indicate that she was listening.

"Um… what happened to you?"

Anko bit her lip. She wanted to scream at the stupid Hyuuga girl. Say some mean, sarcastic comment about her bakugan – maybe suggest that she "find the answer within," because she'd be able to see everybody from the inside out anyway. But she knew her frustration wasn't really Hinata's fault. Besides, Anko knew that sooner or later she would have to come to terms with the fact that _she simply had no memory of the previous two weeks._ And that scared her to death.

So instead she sighed deeply and shook her head.

"It's a blur," she said finally.

That was far from a satisfying response, but Hinata and Sakura both seemed to realize that they weren't going to get anything better. Anko was an interrogation ninja, after all. Her _job_ was withholding information. If she didn't want them to know something, she would find a way to make sure they didn't find out.

After about fifteen minutes of tedium, Sakura had finished with the minor lesions and was ready to treat the broken limb.

"I'm going to have to push on this in several places and see where it hurts," the medic-nin said apologetically. "I need to set this before we go back tomorrow, and I'm kind of at a loss without being able to see the fracture with an x-ray."

"Um, I could save you some time," Hinata said softly. "I can see the broken bone – it's the big one in her thigh."

"Oh," Sakura said. She was pleasantly surprised that they could avoid the pain for Anko, but she also secretly wished that she had come up with using the byakugan for that purpose on her own. "How is it broken?"

Hinata squinted.

"It's broken in half, but the two pieces are still together."

"Oh," Sakura said again. "I guess it's what we call a simple fracture, non-displaced. In this case, one of the femur. That had to be pretty painful… but I can handle it."

"Sweet," Anko replied. "So just a little bit of that green light stuff and I'll be good to go?"

"Almost," Sakura replied. "It'll be a little sore, and you might not be able to walk all the way back tomorrow, but you'll be able to walk around the campsite easier and it won't ache as much."

"Works for me. Let 'er rip."

Sakura concentrated for a moment, her hands a few inches above Anko's leg. A green light appeared and steadily became stronger. Moving it to rest about the place Hinata had indicated, Sakura paused.

"Getting better?" she asked.

"Yeah," Anko replied, mystified. "Impressive."

The green light extinguished, but Sakura still glowed.

"Thanks," she said, realizing briefly how odd it was that she was thanking Anko for a compliment rather than receiving thanks for healing a broken bone.

"No problem," Anko replied brusquely. "I'm sorry to break this up so soon, but I'm about to starve to death. Let's go to the campfire and see how Kakashi's doing with that ramen of his."

"Um, you might want to put some clothes on first," Hinata suggested, raising a finger hesitantly. Sakura burst out laughing, but in the meantime, dug through her pack until she came across some plain black pants she wore for training and a larger Leaf Village insignia t-shirt that she believed might have once belonged to Naruto.

"You can wear these while your clothes dry," she offered. Anko appraised them for a moment, and finally nodded.

"Thanks," she said, pulling them on quickly. Now let's get some food."

The midnight dinner was essentially a non-event – everyone was far too exhausted to make small talk, and they had all given up asking Anko about what had happened to her during her disappearance. So mostly the group of five ate ramen and then proceeded, one by one, off to bed. Kakashi and Kiba each had their own tent, as did Sakura. Anko was stuck into Hinata's tent at the last minute because they lacked space, and all of the girls' belongings had already been stuffed into Sakura's tent/clinic.

They had managed, by sharing what they had each brought, to find enough blankets that everyone would be warm enough for the night. Kakashi also assured them that his fire wouldn't spread and would stay just where they left it – and at exactly the same height of flames – until the following morning.

Everyone settled down quickly; for the most part, they fell asleep as their heads hit their pillows.

After awhile, only one was left.

Anko looked around briefly, knowing that there was no way she would get any sleep that night. She was simply too shaken up and too confused. She also didn't want to be alone – and the Hyuuga girl didn't count. She barely spoke at all, and Anko could tell as easily as anybody that Hinata was scared to death of her.

She needed more… _agreeable_ company.

Once she was sure her bunkmate was asleep, Anko got to her feet and crept over to the tent opening. Though she thought she had made it without disturbing Hinata, that wasn't exactly true.

The younger woman rolled over and activated her byakugan just in time to watch through the tent wall as Anko walked across the clearing and crawled through the opening of Kakashi's tent.


	4. Momentary Peace

I admit I was a little bit discouraged by the lack of reviews on this story, but in a fandom as HUGE as Naruto, that tends to happen. I suppose that's the reason I hiatus'd it for such a long time, but the fans that it does have were very adamant that I continue! SO... here is your reward for being so insistent! :) I've written a couple of chapters in addition to this, and plan to write a couple more over the holiday break, so updates should be regular for awhile - and hopefully from now on. ;) Thanks again for your support - enjoy!

* * *

"Boo," Anko said, leaning her head through the zippered doorway of the tent. Kakashi looked up from his pillow, hardly even appearing surprised – mostly because he wasn't. He had long since removed his hitai-ite and mask, but Anko was one of the few that had seen him without those anyway.

And he knew it would be her, showing up at his tent in the middle of the night. Who else would it be?

"Hey," he said. "C'mon in, it's cold out there."

"Though you'd never ask. So what was the big idea sticking me with that quiet girl? I scare the shit out of her, and she's not very good company anyway."

"Anko," Kakashi said, laughing a little. "This isn't a slumber party. It's an A-ranked mission."

"Still. You could have put me here to begin with."

"That would not have looked good to do in front of innocent chuunins. You know exactly what would have happened: Kiba would have awoken Hinata in the middle of the night and forced her to use her byakugan to spy on us, and Sakura – who can't keep a secret to save her life – would have told the whole village."

"Eh, there wouldn't have been much interesting to tell, anyway," Anko yawned. "I'm far too tired to rock your world tonight. I just wanted a little bit of company."

With this, Anko crawled under Kakashi's blanket. He was lying on his side with one elbow supporting his head, so she snuggled up beside him and lay on her back. After they were both settled, she grinned up at him.

"See? No questionable motives at all."

Kakashi inwardly groaned. Tell that to his elevated heart rate. Anko was one of those people that always inspired a man to think naughty things whether she was trying to do that or not. At least… it _seemed_ like there were times when she wasn't trying. She was pretty good at operating on the down-low. But it wouldn't get to him. He would just have to keep his mind on other things.

"There aren't any stars out tonight," Anko grumbled. "The cloud cover from the storm is still blocking them."

"That is a pity," Kakashi agreed. "Usually out in the middle of the woods you can see more."

"That's my favorite thing about missions."

The two sat in silence for a minute or two after that. Anko closed her eyes, and Kakashi wondered briefly – and not without a certain amount of surprise – if she had fallen asleep. Her chest rose and fell gently under the borrowed t-shirt, and her breathing seemed to even out.

But a moment or two later, her eyes popped open again.

Anko rolled over and looked up at Kakashi with a somehow sincere expression.

"Have you ever wanted to remember something really, really badly, but at the same time, wondered if it would be in your best interests just to keep it forgotten?"

Kakashi nodded. It hadn't taken him any time at all to think of a situation in his own life that mirrored perfectly what he was saying: the moments with his own genin team met her criteria precisely. He wanted to go back and hang onto every memory of Rin and Obito, making sure not to lose a single one. However, remembering made it hurt more, and he always opted to just keep going with his present life and leave the memories in the back of his mind where they hurt less – and were hopefully safe.

"Yeah," Kakashi said. "I know exactly what you're talking about."

"Then you know what I'm feeling about the last two weeks."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, leaving behind his own melancholy thoughts as her words sunk in.

"Then you really don't remember anything about the last fourteen days?"

"Nope. I remember leaving Konoha with the documents from Lady Tsunade, and then I remember sitting in the rain in the woods."

"How long were you in the woods?"

"Couldn't tell you if I had to. Time wasn't making too much sense yet, then. It felt like sort of a long time, but I can't account for what happened while I waited. No singular events stand out. I mean, it wasn't days or anything, or I would have been in a lot worse shape than I was when your chuunin found me. But I feel like it was more than a couple of hours."

Kakashi nodded and bit his lip.

"Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I have to rule out all the possibilities I've managed to come up with… do you have any bumps or bad bruises on your head?"

"Nope," Anko replied. "Sakura checked for that, too. Physically, there's nothing to suggest that I would be experiencing any abnormal memory loss."

"Then it was a jutsu of some kind."

Kakashi didn't say those last words like it was some kind of hypothesis. As far as he was concerned, there were no other viable options. Someone wanted Anko not to recall what took place during her ill-fated mission, and they had done a fairly good job of ensuring that that took place.

That had already happened to Anko once, and the perpetrator of the first incident remained vivid in Kakashi's memory.

"I know what you're thinking," Anko interrupted. "And I'd thought of it too. But there are several reasons it doesn't add up."

"Okay," Kakashi replied. "I'm all ears."

"For one, my curse mark didn't ache out there in the woods. It would have, if he was anywhere nearby. Also, I feel like if he had had anything to do with it, the memory-erasing job would be messier. I still have flashbacks from those first years. Wouldn't there be bits and pieces I managed to hold on to from this go too?"

"Hm. Could be."

In truth, Kakashi was hardly convinced at all. Both of Anko's theories were quite poorly devised, and he was certain that she knew that just as well as he did. For one, by the time she awoke in the woods, Orochimaru could have been long gone. The only reason her curse mark was still aching when ANBU found her on the beach as a child was because it had just been given to her. And as far as Orochimaru's memory-loss jutsu, that could easily have improved by leaps and bounds over the decade or so since he had last tried it. In fact, it more than likely had.

Anko just didn't want to admit to what she knew was the only possible truth. And why would she? _Kakashi _got chills at the idea of Anko's former sensei coming back into her life.

"I just want this to make sense," Anko whispered, interrupting his thoughts. "I need to know what happened to me, don't you understand?"

"Of course I do," Kakashi replied. "But you have plenty of time to figure all of that out. It's very late – why don't you get some sleep? You know you need it."

"I'll try," Anko mumbled. Kakashi put his free arm over her hips and pulled her closer.

"Oh!" Anko exclaimed, wincing.

Kakashi drew back in alarm.

"No, no," she corrected. "You just… touched a bruised place. But don't let go."

Anko took Kakashi's arm and guided it so it rested over her ribs. She and Kakashi still rested in an embrace, but her tender hip was out of harm's way.

With a purr of contentment, Anko rested her head on the pillow again. Moments later, the hand she had left outstretched over the pillow fell limp and Kakashi felt her relax in his embrace. That hadn't taken nearly as long as he had counted on when he realized he would be the one convincing her to go to sleep– she must have been truly exhausted not to even try to put up a fight.

As Kakashi watched her, he prayed silently that what he suspected hadn't been what actually transpired.

But with the evidence he had, his hopes were admittedly dim.

Kiba, in the tent beside Kakashi's, had been shamelessly eavesdropping. Though he admittedly wished for a moment that Anko was snuggled up beside _him_ instead – after all, he had found her – but he knew he wouldn't have been much help to her.

At the same time, the fact that Kiba had been counted out of the inner circle despite his helpfulness to the mission didn't keep him from using all of his special abilities to learn as much about the situation as he could. His hearing was acute enough that he managed to get most of the conversation.

Apparently Anko had positively no memory of what happened for the two weeks she had been missing.

That was scary for anybody, but with Anko's past, it had deadly potential. Everyone in Konoha knew that she had been Orochimaru's pet for all of her years of training. She had been his student, of course, but rumors existed that more had gone on between the two. Either way, it certainly changed her standing in the shinobi world.

Even if it wasn't the snake sannin himself who had abducted her this time around, his influence had given her a new level of value to an opposing nation.

Kiba wondered if that's why Kakashi sounded so concerned. After all, his own mind reeled with possibilities – Anko could have been used as some kind of weapon because of the power her curse mark gave her. She could have divulged any number of secrets from Konoha. She could have contracted some horrible disease, and she'd never know how it had happened. She could have been experimented on by medics from an enemy nation.

Each idea of what could have happened was scarier than the one before it.

Stroking Akamaru's head absently, Kiba allowed his thoughts to remain deep. As he saw it, he was involved. He had been the one to find Anko, after all, and he had put up with her just like the rest of them. Whatever they found out the following evening, back in Konoha, he wouldn't step out of the picture and allow whatever happened to happen. He would stand by the girl with the fighting spirit and tough exterior and make sure that she was respected for the struggle she had sustained.

But it was just doing his duty as a dedicated shinobi.

It wasn't because he was in any way attracted to Anko.

Certainly not.


	5. The Journey and a Few More Questions

Thanks for your responses and your patience, guys! :) I'm glad I decided to stick with this one, too. So please enjoy installment five - six is already in the works!

* * *

The following morning, Kakashi went around to everyone's tents and woke them up at precisely seven o'clock in the morning. For several of them, this meant less than four hours of sleep, and there was some griping as they rubbed their eyes and surrounded the still-burning campfire.

Anko, who had managed to sneak back into Hinata's tent sometime before sunrise, was in the process of locating her own clothing. Though several of her fishnets were torn and her jacket had a stain or two, she seemed happy to get back into her usual attire.

Despite the general aura of discontent, Kiba knew better than to open his mouth and give away how late he had stayed up. He was already concerned that Kakashi suspected him of eavesdropping, and he wasn't going to give the jounin any confirming evidence. Instead, he took a curry brush out of his rucksack and occupied himself with brushing down Akamaru to fill the time that Kakashi cooked breakfast and the girls washed up.

Kiba was still mulling over everything he'd heard the previous night when he came across something strange: in the middle of Akamaru's back, amongst the masses of snowy-white hair, there was one strand that looked out of place. It wasn't really strange to find an out-of-place hair on Akamaru, because occasionally one of Kiba's own hairs would end up there if he used the dog for a pillow. However, this one definitely wasn't Kiba's either.

He tugged on it, and it came off easily. But it was surprisingly long – about a foot - and jet black. The chuunin scrutinized it for a moment. It was much too dark or long to belong to him. He wondered briefly if it could be Anko's, since she had ridden Akamaru back to the campsite the night before, but he quickly realized that that didn't stand to reason either. Her hair had been pulled back the entire time, and besides, it was a violet color.

Kiba was about to toss it aside, figuring he was being paranoid, but something stopped him. After all, on a mission as mysterious as that one, anything that could not be immediately and easily explained might as well be evidence. Keeping this mind, he slipped the hair into a leather pouch in his bag. If he needed it, it would be there.

About the time he had finished all of this, Kakashi called him over for breakfast. The others were already settled and eating some substance that appeared to be instant porridge. If he hadn't been starving, it probably would have turned his stomach. But as it was, he ate half his portion eagerly and then gave the rest to Akamaru, who licked the bowl.

Once breakfast was finished and the general clean-up duties had been assigned and performed, it was time to hit the road yet again.

"Tsunade knows to expect us," Kakashi announced. "I sent Pakkun on ahead last night to share the news about Anko. However, it would be best to arrive before sunset to avoid running into any… inconveniences."

"I'm assuming I'm not allowed to walk, huh?" Anko asked, wrinkling her nose.

"That's right," Sakura cut in. "I don't want to take any chances on your leg getting re-injured. Besides, you're still experiencing muscle fatigue, and you'll tire more quickly than the rest of us."

Anko snorted, clearly certain that muscle fatigue was far below her, but she still wandered over obediently towards Kiba and Akamaru.

"Looks like I'll be riding back with you guys," she announced. Kiba nodded, motioning for her to climb up on Akamaru's back. Though he swept his eyes quickly over her back as she got up, he didn't see anything more that could pass as evidence.

"Alrighty, Mutt, you know the drill," Anko sighed, patting Akamaru's head. Despite the words she said, her tone of voice was encouraging and perhaps even sweet. "I'm gonna get you a giant bowl of scraps from the ramen place when we get back. You're a good puppy."

Akamaru, though he probably didn't understand what Anko was saying, thumped his tail. The tone of voice was enough. Kiba was momentarily surprised to see Anko's soft spot for animals, but could only smile and shake his head before Kakashi gave the order to move out, and the epic journey home began.

After awhile, the group began to spread out over the span of about a half a mile or so. Hinata and Sakura walked together, talking in quiet voices. Kakashi headed off the pack, his nose in his book but his feet never deviating from the path. That left Anko, Akamaru, and Kiba in the back, taking their time back to the village.

"You look like you've healed up pretty well," Kiba remarked, mostly to break the silence.

"Yeah, Sakura knows her stuff," Anko agreed. "And I'm a tough one."

_I know _that, Kiba thought to himself, _and honestly that's_ _what scares me. You could have been through heaven-knows-what, and still be sitting here talking to me like nothing's wrong._

But he only gave a noncommittal 'hmn.'

"So how did you find me?" Anko asked. "I was buried pretty deep in those woods. And for whatever reason, I didn't have any sort of trail leading to where I was – I looked briefly when you were helping me up."

"Yeah, that was all Akamaru," Kiba admitted. "We were looking for firewood and he caught a whiff of something. He took off pretty fast."

"Nice," Anko chuckled, patting Akamaru's neck. "See? I knew you were a good doggy."

Kiba smiled.

"I never knew you had such a thing for animals," he said. "You surprised me earlier."

Anko shrugged.

"It's really only dogs. And my snakes, of course, but not as pets. Actually, it's mostly just dogs. They're so innocent and sweet and non-judgmental. They don't think you're crazy. And they're always so happy to see you."

"Akamaru is happy to see anybody who will rub his ears and share their food," Kiba agreed with a laugh. "But he seems to have a special thing for you."

"Does he now?" Anko asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kiba nodded to answer her question, but couldn't quite figure out why there was a blush rising to his cheeks. It was the dog he had been talking about after all – not him. She had no way of knowing that he found himself occasionally tongue-tied and uncertain in her presence. That he had noticed, over the past few days, how beautiful of a girl she was. And that he wondered how he possibly could have missed it before.

Or did she?

"Hey, Kiba, how far out are we from Konoha?" Anko asked, shattering his reverie. "I don't really recognize this neck of the woods."

Kiba stumbled momentarily over Anko calling him by his first name – _she actually knew it after all!_ – before he mustered up a reply.

"About ten miles," he said, trying to sound as confident as he could. "The terrain isn't always this difficult, though. We'll get to a merchant road in a mile or so, and it's pretty smooth from there on out."

"Ah, I think I'm getting my bearings back," Anko said. "I really need to get home, get a real shower and a strong drink, and sleep in my own bed. I think that would cure everything."

"Sometimes that's all it takes," Kiba agreed. "I could use some good sleep myself."

Anko nodded. They traveled in silence for awhile after that, Anko playing with the long, curly hair on Akamaru's neck and humming to herself occasionally. Kiba observed that she seemed pretty levelheaded for someone who had just come back from an over-long mission with a broken leg and no previous memory of the two weeks she had been gone. But then again, that was the shinobi way: never look back, never look forward. Live for the moment, because alertness can't afford to be compromised.

As though in response to Kiba's thoughts – or at least in a terrible twist of irony – a kunai whizzed past his ear. Catching a brief glimpse of the exploding tag, he realized that there wasn't a moment to lose.

"Anko!" he exclaimed. The special jounin looked up just in time to be tackled off Akamaru's back and land in a heap of supplies, shinobi, and fur. At the exact place where she had been, a minor explosion rattled the ground and scattered pebbles across the path beside them.

"Show yourself!" Kiba exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

A shadow moved behind the tree, and Anko (who had been rapidly arming herself despite her shock and injuries) tossed three consecutive shuriken. Two hit a tree, but a muffled groan affirmed that the last one had hit its mark. Unwilling to allow any enemy shinobi to escape, Kiba raced into the trees and grabbed the disoriented offender by the throat.

"He's a Sound nin!" he called back to Anko.

By that time, more footsteps were sounding on the path, heading towards them. Fortunately, however, the approaching party was made up of friends, not foes. Kakashi and the two chuunin-level kunoichi soon rejoined the rest of their party, and upon their arrival, the latter began to help drag the uncooperative enemy ninja out of the underbrush. Despite the struggle, Kakashi could see the unmistakable music note emblem on the man's hitai-ite.

"That was an unfortunate move," Kakashi commented as soon as the man was in broad daylight. "You very narrowly missed a kunai in the throat."

The offender was a man about Kakashi's height, medium build. Not much else could be determined about him because of the many bandages wrapped around his face and hands, but his expression was one of mere amusement as he regarded the Konoha ninjas.

"Mitarashi-san very nearly missed her head being blown off," the man taunted. Before any of the shinobi could make another move, Anko had leapt towards the man. She seized him, as Kiba had, by his throat.

"How do you know who I am?" she demanded.

The man only chuckled.

"Answer me!" Anko shouted, pulling back her fist. Kakashi, however, seized Anko's arm before she could do any damage.

"Don't incapacitate him just yet," the jounin advised. "There's been some suspect activity in this area – Tsunade warned us about it when she gave us the mission. This shinobi might be able to give us some valuable information if we take him back to the village to get interrogated properly."

Anko sighed and lowered her first.

"Fair enough," she muttered. "I'm in the market for some answers right now, after all."

"Wait – Kiba said suddenly. "How do we know there aren't others with him?"

"We don't, but I'm going to make that assumption," Kakashi replied. "He wouldn't use explosive tags if he was working in a partnership with anybody. He would be too afraid of a teammate getting caught in the explosion."

Kiba nodded. True enough. Kakashi was _good_.

"Sakura?" the mission's leader asked, taking charge once more.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm entrusting this fellow to you. Keep him from going anywhere, please."

"Of course," Sakura replied, smiling confidently. Without any real delay or concern, she formed a quick hand sign. The Sound nin stumbled.

"Your upper body has been paralyzed," Sakura informed him, still smiling. "You can't move your arms or hands, but your legs will work just fine, so you can walk _all_ ten miles back to Konoha."

The man tried to protest or curse, but no sound came out.

"That includes your mouth," Sakura added.

Kakashi smiled and clapped his former student on the shoulder.

"Well done, Sakura. Actually, well done all of you. But we were already well behind schedule before we ran into this minor inconvenience, so let's step on it."

Sakura exchanged a glance with Hinata, who shrugged helplessly in response. Even though the latter had not been in Kakashi's squad of genin, she knew as well as anybody else about his reputation for lateness. The Kakashi they knew would show up hours behind schedule without batting an eyelash. In fact, it would be strange for Kakashi to _prompt_. Sakura remembered her sensei saying that he wanted to be home before sundown, but that was hours and hours away. They could get back to Konoha by then if they crawled there.

However, there was nothing to do but roll her eyes and follow orders. Kakashi was soon at the front of the pack yet again, but maintained a certain amount of closeness that he hadn't before.

Beyond where Sakura could see or hear, the squad leader sighed deeply.

It was against his nature to rush, and it was stressing him out a great deal. However, the alternative could be worse. Though he wouldn't admit it to the others, he was fairly certain that someone had wiped Anko's memory intentionally. She couldn't remember anything because she wasn't _meant_ to remember anything. However, her body might still hold evidence that her mind had forgotten. It was his sworn duty to get her back to Konoha before anything was processed out of her bloodstream or sweated off her skin that could point Tsunade back to where she had been or what she had been subjected to over the previous two weeks.


	6. The Homecoming

Installment six! :) And the last one before the plot sets in... dunDANUN! :D Thanks, of course, for the continued feedback. The more the merrier, non?

* * *

When the group was only about a half a mile away from the gates of the village, Akamaru's ears perked up. Kiba noticed and stopped for a moment to listen.

"What's up?" Anko asked lazily, having calmed back down after the earlier incident.

"I hear… voices," Kiba replied. His expression was one of confusion and concentration. "Like a big crowd of people. Hey, Hinata?"

His teammate was a few paces ahead, but she turned around.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked.

"Um, I don't know," Kiba said. "Can you take a glance with your byakugan and see what's up with the town? It sounds like a party or something. But the Cherry Blossom festival isn't until March. I really don't know what's going on."

Hinata nodded and stopped for a moment. The muscles beside her eyes tensed and she focused intensely for a moment, but when her face relaxed, it was with a hesitant smile.

"It's a welcome back party," she explained. "Kurenai and Iruka put it together for Anko. Almost the whole village will be waiting for us."

Kiba was about to exclaim how cool he thought that was, but was stopped by an unepected groan from Anko.

"Just what I need," she muttered. "All sorts of attention and people begging me for stories."

The two chuunin beside her exchanged grim looks. Neither of them had thought about that part. The last kind of gathering like that had been for Team Asuma when they got back from a month-long journey to the Land of Tea. Nobody would leave them alone until they'd told the entire account of their journey, down to every detail. Anko certainly wouldn't – and couldn't – deal with that much attention.

At that point, Kakashi, Sakura, and the sullen, half-petrified Sound-nin had wandered (or in the case of the latter, been dragged) back to see what was holding up the rest of the party. Kiba explained the situation, Anko punctuating it with eyerolls.

"Ah," Kakashi sighed. "That does present a problem, doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. I can hear Gai now…" Anko paused and affected a deep nasally voice that actually sounded an uncanny amount like Gai-sensei: "'Share stories of your youthful journeys, Anko! We want to revel in the youth of your sacrifices for the sake of our youthfulness!"

Kiba doubled over laughing, and even Kakashi smiled and shook his head.

"I don't blame you for wanting to dodge all that, Anko," he admitted. "I'll tell you what: Kiba and the girls can do crowd control. The captured assassin will be plenty of distraction anyway, and people will soon enough be too interested in his story to realize they've been tricked out of hearing yours. I'll sneak you into the backdoor of the Hokage's tower. That way, Tsunade can go ahead and begin tests, and you won't have to deal with any unnecessary questions until you have a few answers. Sound good?"

Anko nodded, looking deeply relieved.

"You're a champion, Kakashi."

A short, silent walked passed before the gates came into view, and Kakashi stopped his team one last time to give some final instructions.

"Anko and I are going to go around to the tunnel entrance," he explained. "You three go on in the front gates. When people start noticing that we're not there, explain that Anko was exhausted, so she and I stopped to rest at an inn a few miles out."

"You don't even want people to know you're back in town?" Kiba asked, clearly surprised.

"No, I don't," Kakashi replied sternly. "If she's not there to pester at the gates, they'll just head on to the hospital."

"We could just tell them that she needed immediate medical treatment," Sakura suggested. "Then they'd leave her alone." It was becoming increasingly clear that none of the chuunin were very comfortable with lying to the entire village.

"No!" Anko cut in firmly. "Then they'd all panic and start worrying. Which would be even worse."

"Just go on and follow your orders," Kakashi said. "Updates will be sent to you whenever we learn anything new. Don't worry about Anko and me between then and now. We'll let the village know the truth in due time."

The three nodded and turned around, Akamaru at their heels. When they were out of earshot, the grumbling began.

"Me and Anko this, me and Anko that," Kiba mocked. "You'd think he was the one who found her, brought her back to the campsite, and defended her today on the way back home."

"Well, he is the team leader, Kiba-kun," Hinata said quietly. "And he probably has a better idea of what she needs now."

"How?" Kiba demanded. "He's not any closer to her than any of us. Sure, they may be jounin together, but he's just got his nose in his stupid book all the time. Never knows anything that's going on around here anyway…"

"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed, slapping Kiba upside the head. "That's my sensei you're talking about! And I'll have you know that he's an excellent shinobi. Just look at the bingo book if you don't believe me – he's plenty qualified."

"Qualified to edit _porn_, maybe!"

"Why _you –_"

"Guys!" Hinata said. It was so unusual that she raised her voice that both of her arguing companions immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to face her.

"We're at the gates," Hinata continued sternly. "We have to be convincing and say what Kakashi-sensei told us to! Come on."

* * *

A short distance away from the rest of their squad, Kakashi and Anko made their way around the perimeter to the western wall of the village. It was oddly silent after the others had dispersed, the only sounds those of the birds, the wind in the trees, and a single set of footprints. Kakashi had refused to late Anko walk on her own even then, much to the chagrin of the latter.

"I gotta hand it to you," Anko admitted from her perch on Kakashi's back, "the tunnel entrance was a pretty inspired idea. It will put us right at Tsunade's back door."

"Thank you," Kakashi replied. "Minato-sensei used to use it when he got back from missions really late and didn't want to bother the night watch. When I got old enough to take some of those missions for him, he taught me the hand signs necessary to get past all the invisible walls and genjutsu that keep it secure so I could report back to him first."

"Hmm, not everybody knows those," Anko said. "I'm beginning to wonder if Minato-san wasn't pretty intent on you following in his footsteps as hokage…?"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Kakashi said gruffly. "He used to mention quite often how he thought a few more of Kushina's qualities - combined with his own, of course - would be useful to a hokage. I imagine he hoped to have a son who would take up the mantle. "

"Well, that may happen yet," Anko observed.

Kakashi smiled and shook his head as he made hand signs.

"Time will tell, I guess."

Kakashi walked silently through the underground tunnel, stopping briefly every so often to make sure that they weren't followed. When they emerged a few minutes later, he quickly re-sealed the tunnel and engaged the genjutsu that hid it from view.

"Well, shall we?" Anko asked. "The coast looks clear."

"I agree. Now's our chance."

Kakashi stepped out of the shadows and up to the threshold of the plain backdoor to the tower. He rapped on it twice, and the shuffling of feet was heard before the door was opened just a crack.

"Boo," Anko said, winking.

Shizune immediately opened the door the rest of the way and ushered them inside.

"Anko, I'm so happy to see you!" the hokage's assistant exclaimed, squishing Kakashi in a hug that was really more meant for the kunoichi on his back. "Are you okay? Can I get you something?"

"You can get Tsunade," Kakashi said firmly.

Shizune gave him a rather put-out look, but turned and did as she had been told nonetheless. Kakashi took the opportunity to put Anko down on the sofa and stretch his limbs a little bit. His companion was plenty fit, but carrying around that much weight on one's shoulders and hips did eventually take its toll.

"You were a little cold back there, with Shizune," Anko observed. "You really haven't been yourself today, you know? You've been on the run since your feet hit the ground this morning. Figuratively speaking, of course."

"You're right. I haven't. But it's because we couldn't waste time getting you back here," Kakashi finally gave in and explained. "Tsunade's medical prowess is our only hope figuring out what happened to you. I couldn't risk the evidence getting lost over the journey back home."

"… oh."

Anko's paused indicated that Kakashi's reasoning wasn't something that had occurred to her. Her expression immediately after hearing his explanation was quite a bit sobered – and maybe even fearful. However, before Kakashi could find any reassuring words over which to stumble, Shizune reappeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Anything else?" she asked Kakashi a bit sarcastically, wrinkling her nose.

"That's all we need," the jounin replied, not missing a beat. "Tsunade, I think you should get some biological matter to test – stat. Anko's had her memory wiped, and we need any information you can give in regards to what happened to her. Whatever remains on her person is our only hope."

Tsunade appeared a bit taken aback. Under any other circumstances, she would have snapped at Kakashi for assuming such authority and trying to give her – _the hokage!_ – orders, but she couldn't argue. Memory loss was a serious issue, and poor Anko seemed oddly prone to it. There was no time to waste in collecting evidence of what had occurred, because with Anko's history, it had the potential to be especially - one might even say _fatally_ - serious.

"Agreed," Tsunade said finally. "I'll take your advice this time around. You've clearly had plenty of time to think this out. Anko – "

"Just give me the cup to pee in," Anko muttered, getting to her feet. In true Anko-fashion, she had shaken off all her anxiety of the previous few moments, leaving nothing but dull wit and brazen confidence in its place. "And the needle to prick my finger, _and_ the cotton to swab my cheek… I know the drill at this point."

"They're all up in the drawer labeled 'specimens,'" Tsunade said. "Take a left as soon as you get to my office. In fact, Shizune, why don't you take her?"

Shizune nodded quickly and beckoned for Anko to come along with her, obviously glad for the opportunity to talk to her friend without Kakashi in the way making things difficult. When the two had disappeared well into the stairway and were obviously out of earshot, Tsunade turned to Kakashi.

"A little tightly-wound, are we?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm worried about her, I guess," Kakashi sighed. "As a fellow jounin. She came and slept in my tent last night, and she seemed pretty shaken up. More than I've ever seen her express before. I told her not to do stuff like that with the chuunin right there, of course, but you know how it is with her…"

"Yeah, I definitely do," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes. "At least, I understand the part about the lack of decorum. But it _is _a little odd for her to show need to another person that easily. She's pretty much as self-reliant as they come. If she was willing to be that vulnerable, she's really a lot more concerned about this whole situation than she lets on to the rest of us."

"And with good reason," Kakashi replied, his expression stern. "This is the second time somebody has wiped her memory. And that's no simple jutsu. There was definitely some kind of event or some highly significant information that someone didn't want to take any chances of her passing on."

"Do you think it was…?"

Tsunade's voice trailed off, but Kakashi already knew exactly what she meant.

"We talked about that. I honestly don't know one way or the other. It's not like he's the only one to whom Anko would be of value, but then again…"

"-he's the only one we've seen pull off this jutsu so successfully before now," Tsunade finished.

Kakashi nodded grimly.

"Do you think I got her back soon enough?" he asked. "Will there be any evidence left?"

"Well, she hasn't eaten too much or had enough to drink to clean out her bloodstream. If the assailant drugged her with anything strong, we'll be able to tell," Tsunade said with a shrug. "But after being in the rain for so long and changing clothes that many times, I don't think we're going to find any solid evidence like foreign hairs or fibers."

Kakashi sighed and tried to resign himself. He'd done the best he could.

As the conversation lulled, the two heard more footsteps on the stairs.

"That'll be the patient," Tsunade said, getting to her feet just as a violet head popped out at the bottom of the stairs.

"Did you find everything?" the hokage asked.

"Yep," Anko said, brandishing a bandaged finger. "No problem. Should I go home or stick around and see what you find out?"

"You're my first priority right now, Anko," Tsunade said. "It will take me ten minutes at the most to conduct the tests. Why don't you wait down here?"

"Yes ma'am."

Anko, not needing to be told twice, crashed on a couch near Shizune's desk and propped her feet up on one of the armrests.

"Well, Kakashi, I guess your journey ends here," she said. "Give my regards to your chuunin."

Kakashi paused, finding himself unwilling to leave, but realized with a bit of bemused surprise that he really had no good argument as to why he should stay.

"Okay," he said finally. "I'll head on, then. Good luck, everyone. But could you let me know when you find something out, Anko? I promised the team I'd keep them updated."

The kunoichi rolled her eyes and muttered something about her 'personal business suddenly becoming a bedtime story for every snot-nosed brat in Konoha' but finally shook her head.

"Alright, consider it done. Bye, Kakashi!"

The silver-haired jounin gave her one of his customary two-figured waves as he turned and departed, but he knew in his heart that it wouldn't be long until his own burning curiosity - and apprehension - brought him right back to the Hokage's tower.


	7. Revelations

The plot is HERE! YAAAY! Ya'll know the drill - R/R! :)

* * *

The promised ten minutes – along with another five more – passed before Tsunade appeared again at the bottom of the stairs. Anko immediately sat up and straightened her clothes, almost as though she were coming to attention for the arrival of an officer.

"Got some answers for me, Lady Fifth?" Anko she asked, her expression expectant.

The blonde woman paused for a second, but finally, she nodded.

"Yes. I do, actually. But don't get too comfortable – I think Kakashi might need to be in on this too."

Anko raised an eyebrow.

"What does Kakashi have to do with anything? If it's my business, I think I'd prefer to just tell the people I want to when I want to."

Tsunade paused again, her expression shifting a little bit towards her 'authoritative hokage' look.

"Actually," she said, " let me rephrase a little: I want you to get somebody else in here for moral support, and Kakashi is the one who already knows the most. This isn't the kind of new you're going to want to sit here and take all by yourself."

Anko, despite her collected exterior, had paled a little bit.

"I'm not gonna die, am I?" she asked, venturing a nervous chuckle.

"No, Anko, you're not going to die. Now run out and come back with Hatake. Hurry up, I don't have all day!"

Anko nodded and scooted off the table quickly. Tsunade heard her footsteps clicking on the stairs – evidently, in her haste, she wasn't bothering to step lightly like she would in an ambush mission. Speed, in Anko's book, resulted in noise.

Well _good_. The sooner Anko returned, the better.

Tsunade wasn't in the mood to draw out the anticipation for an agonizingly long time – for her own sake as much as Anko's. It was rare that she had to deliver such unwanted and shocking information. She actually wondered if it might be easier to tell a kunoichi that she was going to die. Ninjas died all the time. Heck, the ones of Anko's caliber almost _expected_ to die early. _This_, on the other hand…

Anko interrupted Tsunade's thoughts by bursting in, out of breath, with Kakashi by her side.

"He wasn't too far away – just out on a bench reading, actually. But wasn't I quick, Hokage-sama?"

"You did fine, Anko," Tsunade replied.

Kakashi leaned against the examining table on one elbow, in a way that he probably thought looked nonchalant. Tsunade saw through it in an instant. He was scared out of his mind, perhaps even more so than Anko. And as a medic – which automatically meant part-time shrink – Tsunade knew exactly the reason why. _Kakashi_ probably knew exactly what was coming. Anko, on the other hand, managed to remain firmly in denial.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this," Tsunade began, her expression grim. "Mitarashi-san… you're pregnant."

Kakashi winced, but his visible eye was fixated on Anko, anxiously anticipating her reaction. And that was a good thing, because he was the one that caught her after she slumped over and slid downwards towards the hardwood floor.

"Whoa…" Kakashi said softly as he put his arms around her and eased her back up. Tsunade had already assumed Anko had passed out from shock, but was shocked to see when Kakashi sat her back up that her eyes were wide. Uncannily, unblinkingly so.

"See why I wanted somebody else around?" Tsunade asked wryly.

Anko shook her head, but clearly not in response to Tsunade's question. In fact, she probably hadn't even _heard_ Tsunade's question.

"That's impossible," Anko said finally. "There's just no way… I haven't…"

"Think about the two weeks, Anko," Tsunade said softly.

Anko shook her head again.

"I just don't think…"

"Anything could have happened, Anko," Tsunade reminded her. "You said it yourself. And from all the tests I performed – mind you, I performed _three_ – the evidence of pregnancy is 100%. Do you want to see it?"

Anko nodded numbly, and Tsunade passed her an already-prepared tray with several beakers and petri dishes. The experienced medic spent a moment explaining what each meant, and Anko would nod again every few seconds to show that she was paying attention. Finally, when Tsunade finished, she looked up just in time to see a tear roll down the stony face of her most harded jounin.

"There is a silver lining to all of this, though," she said quickly, not knowing if she could handle seeing tears from someone so tough and steadfast.

"We'll take anything," Kakashi whispered.

"You weren't raped," Tsunade said simply. "None of my studies or observations pointed to that – and believe me, I could tell. There wasn't any physical trauma and there weren't any drugs in your bloodstream. Whatever happened, it was consensual. Nobody violated you that way."

"How is that supposed to make this any better?" Anko demanded, a few more tears rolling down. "Consensual, rape… it doesn't really matter at the end of the day, does it? I'm still having a baby that belongs to God-knows-who."

"Anko…" Tsunade suddenly felt like she should be sympathetic or express a little bit of emotion. How odd that she suddenly wanted to act maternal, even though _Anko_ was the pregnant one.

But that wasn't what Anko needed. She needed to be treated in a way she understood – like a subordinate jounin officer or a member of ANBU. That was probably the only way to restore any kind of normalcy to the situation.

Tsunade shook her head and regrouped.

"Okay. I've got to continue with my life. I'm the Hokage, in case either of you have forgotten, and I have a pile of work to do this afternoon that's as high as I am tall. Anko, I want you to go home. Kakashi, you go with her. Do _not_ leave her alone, do you understand?"

Kakashi nodded, helping Anko get to her feet.

"And take one of these every morning," Tsunade continued, still managing to bark orders like the two were headed on some kind of strange new mission. She handed a bottle of herbal pills to Kakashi that were undoubtedly meant for Anko. "No partying or weapons training. And don't expect another mission for a good year. Now both of you – out."

Kakashi essentially dragged Anko out the door. When the double-set of footsteps was no longer audible, Tsunade allowed herself to pull out a bottle of sake.

"Here's to you, Anko," she muttered. "And here's to the best of luck over the next nine months. From what I can tell, you're gonna need it."

When Kakashi put Anko down on his sofa, she finally allowed herself to burst into real tears.

"This is worse than dying, Kakashi!" she choked out. "I'd _rather_ die!"

"Don't talk like that," Kakashi said firmly, unfolding a blanket and putting it over her legs.

"But it's _true._ Kakashi, I need a drink!"

"You aren't getting one, because you're pregnant. But I'm going to go make you some tea. Sit tight."

Anko did as she was told, wiping her eyes with the corner of her blanket. She had already cried hard enough that she felt like she was going to throw up. She couldn't remember crying that hard in years – not since Orochimaru had first given her the curse mark and left her behind. In fact, she couldn't remember crying _at all_ since then. It felt foreign and wrong.

It didn't feel like that long – or maybe it was hours, who could really say? – before Kakashi returned and set a steaming pot of tea on the coffee table. Then he did something that surprised her: he gently picked her up and set her down in his lap, pulling the blanket over both of them. Once that was done, he reached for a cup of and filled it. He blew on it a couple of times to cool it down, and then lifted it to Anko's lips.

"Deeps breaths," he said softly, as he put it back on the table. Anko did as she was told, and he finally felt her relax a little.

"There. Better?" he asked.

Anko shook her head.

"Not better. I'll never get better."

"That's not true," Kakashi corrected her. "You're just shocked, that's all. But you need to think about something else. Then when you think about the baby again, it will be a little easier. It will be a little easier each time you do – because it can only get easier from here."

"I love you," Anko whispered, crying a little more.

Kakashi was shocked for a minute, but he got over it quickly. He knew better than to take her too seriously when she was like this.

"You mean a lot to me too, Anko. But this isn't the time to talk about us. We're both too tired and scared to think clearly. Here, have another sip of tea."

Anko accepted the tea and then wiped her eye with the corner of the blanket again.

"Why are you scared?" she asked.

"Because if you're scared, I know the situation is serious and real. You make it hard for me to be in denial."

Anko nodded, as though she found this to be an acceptable response.

"Kakashi," she began hesitantly, "can I stay here for a little while?"

"Of course, Anko. Nobody's making you go anywhere."

A few minutes passed, and Anko managed to finish her tea. What she didn't know was that it wasn't Kakashi's ordinary mixture of jasmine and oolong tea. It was actually a strong brew of chamomile, which had powerful sleep-inducing qualities. After a few moments of sitting on the sofa with the blanket over her, Anko's eyelids began to droop. When Kakashi walked through a few minutes later, she was sound asleep.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But it's better this way. You need your sleep now more than ever."


	8. More Revelations

Hello dear readers –

Thanks for your patience with this one. It's coming along and I promise I have plans figured out for it, but it's a slow process. Like I said in chapter one, it's a little more complicated than my usual fare. But I haven't abandoned it. One more thing… I've noticed that for some reason, we fanfiction authors have a bizarre penchant for impregnating Anko. Hm. Maybe it's because she seems like the most sexual and simultaneously least maternal woman on the show. Irony prevails! ;) Well, regardless, I like to think I've put a new spin on the idea. Keep R/R-ing, friends! :)

_ Anko opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She couldn't remember where or how she had fallen asleep, and that made her a little nervous. She couldn't see much of the room, so she rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times. However, that didn't improve her situation dramatically. There was only one candle lit, and the windows that would have allowed for a bit of natural light were covered by thick, heavy curtains._

_"Hello?" she asked, sitting up._

_Nothing._

_Her limbs heavy and aching, Anko got to her feet and walked around a little bit, trying to shake off some of her grogginess and see if she could remember anything about what had happened before she fell asleep in such a mysterious place. Nothing came to mind. It was as though there was a huge chunk of time missing – like reading a book where a chapter had been torn out and cast aside._

_However, before Anko had time to figure anything out, she heard a very strange sound: a soft mewling that sounded almost as though it could have been a kitten._

_Anko listened for a moment, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. She almost smiled, remembering a mission from her genin days in which she had been required to rescue somebody's cat. It wasn't an uncommon thing to make genin do – it was good practice, after all. She wondered occasionally if senseis didn't just go around putting cats up in trees for the training exercise that resulted._

_But that was neither here nor there._

_The mewling had increased in volume, and it was sounding less and less like any sound a cat would be capable of making. It was actually becoming a wail._

_The sound confused Anko at first, but when she figured out what it was, the thought chilled her to the bone._

_A baby – a human one._

_Anko set off at a run, leaping through the door of the strange room into an equally dark hallway. It was drafty and she pulled her jacket closer, but she didn't quit running. The baby was important. She didn't know why, but it was her first priority – it had to be. There had been no question as to what to do when she heard the noise. The baby came first._

_Finally, the sound was at an all-time high, and Anko had arrived at a dead-end. A room not too unlike the one she had just left was before her, and without a second thought, she rushed in._

_However, the sight waiting for her made her breath stop short._

_"Hello, Anko," Kabuto said, his smile deceptively sweet. "It certainly took you long enough. He's been crying for you forever!"_

_Anko backed up a step, suddenly uncertain. However, Kabuto only smiled wider and stepped forward, extending the concealed bundle he had been holding. Anko still didn't hold out her arms to accept it, so he shoved it at her. The draw Anko had felt towards the crying baby was all gone, and a cold horror had taken its place. However, she knew nothing else to do but accept whatever Kabuto held._

_The crying had stopped, and with trembling fingers, Anko pulled back the folds of the blanket. _

_Orochimaru's unblinking, serpentine eyes stared back, and Anko began to scream. The bundle slid out of her hands in her surprise, and she immediately panicked and grabbed for it despite her fear._

_But she wasn't going to be fast enough…_

_

* * *

_

Anko awoke in an all-too-familiar cold sweat. Throwing back a blanket she didn't recognize, she looked around the room.

Kakashi's living room? What was she doing there?

Then it all came flooding back.

The mysterious lost time. The chuunin team who picked her up. The tunnel back into the village. Tsunade.

The pregnancy.

Anko stifled one of the screams from her dream as it attempted to take over her in real life. Instead, she settled on wringing the blanket in her palms and letting her thoughts race. Was anyone there? Had Kakashi left her? Who had been told about what had happened to her – and what were they thinking?

Suddenly, a frustrated voice in the next room broke her reverie.

"What do you mean, 'a poisionous compound'?" Kakashi's voice demanded. Anko could tell that he was trying to keep the volume of his words down – probably for her sake – but as his frustration increased, the sound made a noticeable crescendo as well.

"He administered it himself, immediately before the interrogation. It didn't even take five minutes for it to work," another familiar voice replied. Gai. Tsunade must have sent him as a messenger.

Anko got up on one elbow, wondering who they were talking about.

"I can't believe it!" Kakashi fumed. "He was vitally important – one of our only potential sources of information. Who let this happen?"

"He was strip-searched and imprisoned," Gai insisted. "There was nothing village officials could have done to keep it from happening. Apparently he had the glass vial of poison in his mouth the whole time – I've heard of it before. Some of the villages issue it when they send out spies on their own, but only in very serious cases. Whatever he knew, they were apparently pretty intent on nobody finding it out."

"Evidently."

Suddenly the realization hit Anko – they were talking about the spy that had attacked the group on the way back to the leaf village. _He had committed suicide? Before anybody even had a chance to ask him any questions?_

_Shit!_

Anko, like Kakashi, had been very hopeful that the Sound nin would be able to give them a little bit of intel –a few clues to point them in the right direction at the very least. But it wasn't to be. They were right back to where they had been at the campsite: square one, with no leads to follow.

It was infuriating, really.

Anko's anger, along with a gnawing hunger in her stomach, gave her the energy and nerve to get to her feet and amble into the next room. As she stepped through the door, both men instantly stopped talking.

"Hello Gai. Hey, Kakashi," she said, trying to act casual despite the awkwardness of the moment.

"Hi Anko," Gai said, smiling politely – but nevertheless hesitantly. "Tsunade sent me to tell Kakashi about the spy his team brought back from the mission – "

"I heard," Anko muttered, reaching into the refrigerator. "Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it sucks," Kakashi agreed with a sigh. "I was hoping for some answers, but I guess we're up the creek without a paddle again."

Within the refrigerator, Anko rolled her eyes. Hearing the verdict a second time didn't help her frustration.

"Whatever. I'm hungry."

"Sit down, sit down. Let me make you something," Kakashi insisted.

Anko pulled her head out of the fridge and raised an eyebrow.

"Why so charitable?" she asked, the sarcasm in her voice making it plenty evident that she already knew the answer to that question.

"You need to eat healthy," Kakashi replied. "Vegetables and lean meat – lots of dairy and protein. Also you need to eat enough that your herbal supplements won't upset your stomach."

Anko sighed, casting a look at Gai but obviously talking to Kakashi.

"Well why don't you make my condition a little bit more obvious, Kakashi?" she demanded. "I'm afraid you haven't dropped quite enough blatant clues for everyone in the village to figure out what's going on."

Kakashi's lip curled, but Gai gave her an expression of pity.

"I already know about your circumstances, Anko-san," he said solemnly. "Otherwise, I'm certain Kakashi-san would be more careful with his words. But don't worry – I have only been told because I'm to serve as your liason to the hokage. She wants another shinobi privy to the matter in case something happens and neither you nor Kakashi can see her in person."

"Oh," Anko replied, her expression a little sour. "I guess that's acceptable."

"But I'm sure you're exhausted," Gai said, getting to his feet and heading for the door. "I'll leave you two to dinner." It was evident to all three people present that he was mostly just trying to get out of the range of Anko's temper, but Kakashi had to at least give him credit for making an effort to be nice about it. And besides, he too would want an out from his situation, if he wasn't already so terribly… _involved._

How exactly had that happened, again?

He thought at first that it had been a coincidence, but then realized that he was giving himself a bit too much credit. He had let her get close after they found her – encouraged her, actually. He had been the one to help her fall asleep, to rescue her from the awkward, pushy crowds, and to wait out on the bench to be the first one to hear Tsunade's verdict.

That last one had been the fatal one.

"So do I get food or not?" Anko asked crossly as the door shut behind Gai. Kakashi quickly shook off his daydream and turned to face her again.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. So… what do you want?"

"I want dango."

Kakashi initially wanted to laugh. However, the murderous expression on his companion's face was plenty severe enough to discourage him.

"Um, not right now," he said apologetically. "I don't have the stuff, and I think you might need something a bit more substantial anyway. Can I make you some scrambled eggs and toast?"

Anko made a face.

"Is it even breakfast time?"

"Well, it's about midnight, actually," Kakashi replied. "But that's probably the closest thing I have to a real meal. And I have lychee jam – it's really sweet. If you put some on the toast, it will be almost like a dessert."

Anko finally gave him an expression that could have been the shadow of a smile. Though the gesture was halfhearted at best, it warmed Kakashi's heart more than he could say.

"I'll bite," Anko said. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Nope," Kakashi replied smoothly. "Just keep your seat. More tea is on the stove."

"Is it drugged this time?"

Kakashi actually did let out a chuckle then.

"It wasn't drugged before… it just _encouraged_ sleep. You had to have been exhausted already for it to have worked that quickly or well. But to answer your question, no, this isn't chamomile. It's straight jasmine."

"That's good at least."

Anko got some tea and sat back down at her place at the table, blowing on it to cool it down and listening to the muted sounds of Kakashi bustling around the kitchen behind her. The kitchen seemed to be some strange sort of island in the sea of confusion and anxiety that had become her life. As long as she sat here beside her friend and listened to him do such normal, everyday activities, the illusion of peace could continue.

Regrettably, Anko's island was about to be intruded upon.

A knock sounded at the door, and Kakashi looked up, his brow furrowing. Anko looked up as well, but her expression was more one of academic interest.

"Wonder who that could be?" she asked, stirring her cooled-down tea absently with one finger.

Kakashi shrugged as he headed for the door, but his expression proclaimed that he had a fairly good idea. He looked through the peephole hesitantly with his uncovered eye – and as it turned out, he was correct.

"It's the team from yesterday's mission," he observed, looking none too pleased. "Shall I let them in?"

"Something tells me they won't leave us alone until we do," Anko replied, her expression equally droll. "Go ahead."

When Kakashi opened the door, Kiba burst in without an invitation.

"What did you find out?" he demanded, looking back and forth between Anko and Kakashi expectantly. Kakashi pursed his lips in response, but he didn't have time to actually say anything before Sakura – who had wandered in afterwards with Hinata trailing a few paces behind – hit Kiba upside the head like she ordinarily would a similarly-behaved Naruto.

"Calm down," she ordered. "We came to see if Kakashi-sensei and Anko needed anything – not to badger them and be nosy!"

"Well _excuse_ me!" Kiba replied. "I just though that after we worked our tails off on guard duty _and_ crowd control, we might deserve to know what came of last night's mission."

"Guys!" Kakashi exclaimed, his stern voice easily heard above Sakura and Kiba's bickering. "You're acting like children. Everyone take a seat in here on the couch. You're going to have to be patient; if Anko doesn't want to share what happened, she doesn't have to. And she _certainly_ doesn't have to today."

From where she sat at the table, Anko glowered into her cup of tea. It was terribly unfair that she was being put in this circumstance so early on. She didn't even know yet if she was going to keep the baby at all, much less if she wanted the rest of the town involved with her drama. Without the nosiness of these stupid kids, she would have a good three months during which her secret would be safe.

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered, not bothering to look up.

"Well there you have it," Kakashi said coolly. "It's Anko's business, not yours, and I think she needs rest more than anything at this point. Needless to say, she's still exhausted."

"Whoa," Kiba said, his expression incredulous. "No need for the attitude, Kakashi-_sensei_. If this is 'Anko's business,' as you say, then why are _you_ suddenly the one calling the shots?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to respond, but Sakura interrupted before he could.

"Ignore him, Kakashi-sensei," she said, rolling her eyes. "What he _means _to say is that he thinks we could help out a lot more if we actually knew what was going on."

"I think he said exactly what he _meant _to say, Sakura," Kakashi replied, casting a scowl in Kiba's direction.

Kiba growled and opened his mouth to say something else, while Hinata put her hand on his shoulder and tried to stammer something conciliatory in the background. Sakura was trying to concoct some sort of explanation for Kakashi all the while, trying to make it clear that they weren't there in the name of nosiness but at the same time making it _very_ clear that she was dying to know what had gone on.

"Enough!" Anko finally shrieked, getting to her feet. "I don't have the patience to listen to this shit, okay? I'll tell you what's going on. Why the fuck does my privacy matter, anyway? _I'm pregnant_! I'm having a baby. We don't know who the father is or why this happened, and I'm stuck here debating whether I want to save my career or whether I should keep the damn thing just to get some clues about what happened to me. That's what's going on in my life!"

The whole room fell silent.

"Does that answer your question?" she asked, her expression positively terrifying.

Nobody spoke up. Sakura was white as a sheet, and on the opposite end of the sofa, Hinata looked beet-red and on the verge of tears. Kiba looked as though he was about to vomit, and Kakashi's head was cradled in his hands.

"What?" Kiba finally demanded, his voice trembling.

"You heard me," Anko said curtly. "So go out and tell everyone you know so they can start pitying me and giving me empty encouragement and advice. I'll be right here waiting for all of it."

All that said, Anko marched down the hall to the bathroom and slammed the door. Not even bothering to lock the door, she turned on the shower and tore off her clothes as fast as she could. The tears didn't begin to fall until she was already standing under the warm water and bracing herself against the tile of the wall.

_Isn't this my business?_ a voice somewhere within her demanded. _It's bound to become common knowledge – people are already coming here and demanding to know what happened. But since when was this the village's problem?_

Anko sniffled, snatching up a bar of soap so tightly that it squeezed out between her fingers.

_This may be a breach of security and a mystery to be solved, but it's something else, too: it's another life inside of me. The baby might be some kind of evidence to be examined, and I already know that I'll be expected to keep it just because of the answers it will give Tsunade. And that expectation will be doubled now that everyone's going to find out about it. But the fact remains that I'm positively, irrevocably involved in this. It's my body, isn't it?_

**_What about me?_**


	9. A Deeper Investigation

MEANWHILE, BACK WITH THE CHUUNIN TEAM...

"We've got to solve this mystery," Kiba insisted to Hinata, who sat across from him in the low-lit tea shop to which they had retreated after leaving Kakashi's apartment. Sakura had declined the invitation, saying she had work to catch up on at the hospital. Kiba figured that was for the better, deciding that she would probably weigh him on down on his new, self-assigned mission. Hinata, however, didn't seem to be terribly agreeable either. She bit her lip and gave her teammate an uncertain look.

"Kiba," she sighed, "this isn't our burden to bear anymore. Anko now has Kakashi-sensei to take care of her, and we can't keep trying to interfere. There is nothing we could do to figure this out that Tsunade wouldn't be able to accomplish herself."

Kiba smirked.

"That's where you're wrong."

Opening a leather pouch in his hand, Kiba pulled out a single piece of black hair and held it up to the light hanging above their table so Hinata could see.

"I found it when we were packing up the campsite," he said conspiratorially. "I held onto it because I knew it would be evidence. Hinata, this may be the key to solving everything."

"It's a piece of hair," Hinata sighed, her quiet voice possessing an unusual edge of frustration that only a few people ever got to experience – Kiba among them. "It could be anybody's. It even looks like _mine_."

"It can't be, though, that's the thing!" Kiba insisted, unabashed. "Not unless you were using Akamaru for a pillow during the camping trip."

"I didn't, actually…" Hinata admitted. "I don't think I ever touched him except to pat his head once or twice."

"Exactly!" Kiba exclaimed, his eyes flashing. "That means it has to be from either me or Anko. And it's definitely not mine."

"Well, it doesn't look like hers, either."

"It's _not_," Kiba said, sighing. "Bear with me here. I think it came off of something she was wearing or carrying with her when she was riding Akamaru back to the campsite. It might be a clue as to who she was with when she disappeared."

Hinata still looked less than convinced.

"It still sounds like a stretch to me, Kiba-kun."

"Well, maybe," Kiba finally agreed. "But what other options do we have?"

"We could just let Tsunade do her job…"

"But this could be the _only_ evidence there is," Kiba insisted. "I think we should investigate. It's our duty for the village. For poor Anko – she needs any answer she can get right now."

There was a pause. He had struck the right chord at last.

"For Anko," Hinata finally agreed, her expression raw with empathy and sadness on behalf of the elder kunoichi. Kiba tried the best he could to mimic her tender expression, but internally, he was pumping his fist.

_This would be his chance. With Hinata's intellect and his own combined, the two of them should have no problem deducing the origin of the hair. Then, when they knew for certain where it had come from, he would be able to step forward and solve the mystery, showing once and for all the identity of Anko's true hero._

_Take_ that_, Kakashi!

* * *

_

"We're not going to get a chakra reading from a piece of hair, Kiba," Hinata sighed. "We don't even know if the hair is from a shinobi to begin with."

"Well, the hair can only be from one person," Kiba reasoned. "And the only person who could take Anko down solo would have to be a shinobi. Therefore, the level of chakra in the hair could point us in the right direction."

"I'm a Hyuuga, Kiba. We specialize in chakra points, and I can tell you with certainty that there isn't enough chakra in a piece of hair even immediately after a completing a jutsu to get a reading. Much less after the hair has fallen out and been dragged around the Fire Country."

"C'mon, Hinata, just activate your byakugan and _look_ at the damn thing. It'll take thirty seconds."

Hinata sighed.

"If you say so."

She concentrated for a moment, staring blankly at the piece of hair. Though it didn't change at all in Kiba's eyes, after a second of seeing it through the lens of the byakugan, Hinata jumped backwards as though stricken by an electric current.

"That's not normal," she whispered.

"What did you see?" Kiba demanded, his eyes widening.

"It's _surrounded_ by chakra. It has its own chakra _field_. I've seen shiobi coming out of the academy that hardly have that much evidence of chakra in their whole bodies."

"That's _not _normal," Kiba agreed, his expression becoming increasingly stern. "What… what color is the chakra?"

The look on Hinata's face was grave.

"That's the worst part," she whispered. "It's very, very dark. Like somebody has been messing around with it and learning lots of techniques they shouldn't have. The color is muddy and hard to see though. It's _not_ that of a normal shinobi."

Without saying another word, Kiba whipped a weathered copy of the bingo book out of his back pocket.

"This is a good place to start," he muttered, flipping wildly through the pages. "Black hair, black hair…"

He suddenly looked up, pausing on a dog-eared page.

"You don't think it was Itachi or Sasuke Uchiha, do you?"

Hinata shook her head.

"They have normal chakra. All the Uchihas have the same color chakra, and it doesn't look anything like that."

"Okay, well, good to rule that out, I guess. Hmm…"

Kiba continued flipping pages. Finally, he paused again.

"You don't think it could be… _Orochimaru_, do you?" he asked, squinting at the picture. "I know they have a history and all, but I thought it was pretty much over and done. He abandoned her, after all, and skipped town pretty soon after. I didn't even think he could be around these parts after so long."

Hinata bit her lip for a moment, her expression solemn. When she finally spoke, it was with great labor and purpose.

"I was afraid of that from the beginning," she admitted softly. "It seems like the most likely option – even though I didn't want to admit it. He has already wiped her memory once, and did a fairly good job the first time through."

Kiba swore.

"But still – I thought he had taken his goons and gone far away from here."

"That would be nice to think, wouldn't it?" Hinata sighed. "But if he had a reason to come back here, he would in an instant. Hokages don't intimidate him – he's already proven that."

"And the strong, muddied-up chakra…" Kiba's voice trailed off. "He's done enough experimenting and unnatural chakra build-up to more than contaminate a piece of hair. Nothing that powerful could come from anything other than a sannin, and nothing that strange could come from anyone other than Orochimaru. This has to be the answer, Hinata. Orochimaru is back in Anko's life after all this time, and she's become a part of one of his experiments."

Hinata paled.

"It's the only explanation," she agreed. "But what do we do? It's not like we can tell people!"

"Why not?" Kiba demanded. "We have to tell _somebody_. Who knows what kind of baby Anko is carrying? Her life could be in danger!"

"But what about the panic we'll incite?"

"We won't tell everybody, just Tsunade. C'mon, Hinata, come with me! We've got to go to the Hokage's tower!"

Seizing up the hair and putting it back in his leather pouch, Kiba grabbed Hinata's hand and set off at a run for the center of town.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Shizune exclaimed, standing up immediately at the sight of the two out-of-breath chuunin.

"No time to explain," Kiba panted. "We need to talk to Lady Tsunade."

Shizune nodded and set off at a jog up the stairs. A minute or two later, she was back, with the Hokage standing beside her.

"This better be important," Tsunade frowned. "Shizune certainly seemed pretty worked up."

"We think we have a clue to the Anko case!" Kiba exclaimed. "But we have to go up to your office. It's _classified._"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it looks like the cat's out of the bag, if the chuunin already know," she muttered. However, after a moment, she sighed and beckoned for them to follow her back up the stairs. Shizune lingered behind them, coming to rest in her usual position standing beside the Hokage's desk.

"What have you got?" Tsunade asked, moving aside a stack of papers.

"This," Kiba replied, placing the hair on the desk to a generally nonplussed response. "Let me explain. I found it on Akamaru the day we left camp to bring Anko home. She was the only one, besides me, who had been near him. The hair had to have come from her. But since it's not her hair color, that means it came off of somebody who had been near her."

"Well, I find that difficult to argue, but that doesn't narrow it down much," Tsunade observed.

"Oh, it gets better," Kiba promised. "Hinata?"

"I, uh, looked at the hair with my byakugan."

Tsunade and Shizune exchanged a look, clearly quite skeptical. However, Kiba motioned for Hinata to continue.

"It's very unusual for anything as small and minor as a hair to carry a chakra signature from its owner," she explained softly. "But this one radiated chakra. Large, large amounts of it. And it was very dark chakra."

"We think it's from Orochimaru and he came back and kidnapped Anko, and now she's a part of one of his crazy experiments," Kiba explained, his words falling out in a rush. "Don't you see? That has to be the answer!"

Tsunade had paled considerably.

"What you two have there is vital," she said softly. "It's a big piece of evidence, and if you're right, we have to take action immediately."

Hinata was blushing, and Kiba seemed to glow.

"What do we do?" he demanded, getting to his feet.

Shizune rolled her eyes.

"Maybe I shouldn't have used the word 'we,'" Tsunade admitted. "Basically, your job is to keep completely silent about this. Silent as the _grave_, do you understand me?"

Kiba sat down again, glowering, but he nodded.

"We can't have mass panic – and we actually can't even have Anko panicking," Tsunade explained. "There will be a time and place to tell her this, but that's not until a lot more extensive testing has taken place and she's had a good bit more time to adjust to the idea of being pregnant. So discuss this with _no one_."

Hinata nodded solemnly.

"You can trust us, Lady Hokage," she said quietly.

Tsunade bowed her head.

"I hope I can. Thank you for this. Now both of you – get out. I have work that needs to be done."

Kiba and Hinata exchanged a look and got to their feet, allowing Shizune to usher them back towards the shairs.

"I told you," he mouthed.

Hinata gave him a soft smile.


	10. Operation: Abort Mission

"According to my calculations, Anko should be right back home where she belongs," Orochimaru mused, a smirk beginning to form on his thin lips. "But judging by the evidence of that scuffle a few miles away from the Konoha campsite, I won't be getting any sort of regular reports."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow.

"Plan B, then, I assume?"

"That sounds about right," Orochimaru agreed. "But then again, I don't imagine there's much to tell right yet. If I know Anko – and you know I do – she's keeping her secret well under wraps. Things won't get interesting until she has to go public with her news. That's when I will need a hand in the situation to make sure my plan remains on track."

"That is true, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied. "And, of course, we have insurance, should she decide to terminate the pregnancy for any reason."

Orochimaru laughed quietly.

"That we do."

Kabuto's lips curled into his own brand of conspiratory smile.

"You are wise, my lord. So shall I plan to depart in two months or so?"

"That sounds about right," Orochimaru replied, staring off towards a fixed point in the distance.

* * *

"I feel like shit," Anko moaned, leaning her face on the table at Ichiraku Ramen. She had been living with Kakashi for almost two weeks, and thanks to some careful evasiveness on his part, the subject of the mission and any potential fathers of the baby had been largely ignored. However, his efforts seemed to be worth it, because Anko's morale was on the mend. The mother-to-be was her old self much of the time, enjoying wearing her typical fishnets "for the last two months that it won't look gross."

Regardless of her mood, there were times when the physical ramifications of her condition took its toll – and this was one of them.

"Well I tried to get you to eat a few bites of cereal before you got out of bed," Kakashi reminded her. "You were the one that was determined to get up first. You know it makes you dizzy."

"I would have hurled if I'd eaten then," Anko grumbled. Shaking her head, she sat back up and ran a hand through her hair. "I just want my ramen - pronto."

"Your wish is my command," said a cheerful voice above her. Anko looked up and gave Ichiraku's daughter a tired smile.

"Cool. Panko flakes better be on the side."

"As always."

"How are you, Ayame?" Kakashi asked, accepting the tray Ichiraku's daugter carried and giving the girl an apologetic smile on his companion's behalf.

"I'm fine," she replied, clearly not bothered by Anko's surliness. "We're always busy around the chuunin exams, so hours are long, but it doesn't matter to me too much. Time passes faster this way anyway."

"Well that's good. Stay busy, Ayame."

With a smile and wave, the waitress departed.

"You know, if you're going to be that grumbly, you should at least tell people why so they don't judge your for it," Kakashi said as he broke his chopsticks in half. Anko just shrugged and popped a large piece of sautéed pork into her mouth.

It had been an ongoing argument for the past several weeks between the two of them as to whom Anko should tell about the baby. The chuunin already knew, obviously, but they had been doing a better job keeping the secret than anyone had given them credit to be able to do.

When Anko had chewed and swallowed the bite of food, she sighed.

"So what if they judge me? They'd judge me more if they did know why I act like this. Better an obnoxious bitch than a pregnant kunoichi."

Kakashi paused.

"You bring up a good point – aren't people going to wonder why you aren't taking missions?"

"It's a break for the sake of my health," Anko replied tersely. "Now can we please talk about something else?"

"You're going to have to confront this eventually," Kakashi reminded her. "And you don't have forever to put it off, you know… time is running out as far as your ability to make decisions on your own behalf are concerned. You know as well as anyone that Tsunade will only terminate a pregnancy within the first three months. After that, you're carrying the baby full-term, like it or not."

Anko paled.

"You're talking about an abortion, aren't you?" she asked, her voice a bit strangely-pitched.

"Well, yes. Had you not considered that option?"

"I… I guess I hadn't," Anko admitted. "Wow… that should have been obvious."

"You're considering it, then?" Kakashi asked, lowering his chopsticks and giving her a look of skepticism. Anko's cheeks turned a little pink.

"Well now that you mention it, maybe I am."

"I suppose it's your prerogative, but it's a big decision, you know."

"Well, getting pregnant at all is a big decision, but I wasn't given much opportunity to make that one, now was I?" Anko asked, taking another bite of food. "At least I'd be making this one for myself."

"True," Kakashi agreed. Anko looked at him expectantly, as though she was waiting for him to continue, but he didn't."

"You don't approve, clearly," she observed.

"Well, I don't exactly agree with it. The idea of abortion seems to me like a cheap way out of responsibility – and maybe even a moral issue. The baby didn't ask to be conceived, after all, and I think it should be given a fighting chance. But it's not my decision, I suppose."

"Damn right it's not!" Anko said, banging her fist on the table and attracting the attention of several other guests at the restaurant. "Talk to me about 'responsibility' and 'morals' when you have some unknown asshole's baby taking over _your_ body."

Kakashi sighed, shrugged, and went back to his lunch.

"Don't you have anything else to add to this conversation?" Anko demanded after a minute or two. "I'm all ears."

"I don't think there's too much more to be said," Kakashi replied finally. "It sounds like I'm getting you an appointment with Tsunade."

"I would appreciate that."

* * *

Two weeks later, Anko lay on a gurney in the operating area of Konoha's hospital. Tsunade and Sakura stood above her, latex gloves on their hands and look of determination in their eyes.

"This is your last chance to say no, Anko," Tsunade said. "I've seen too many women – some younger than you – burst into tears on my operating table when they come to. I'd hate to see you make a choice that's going to ruin your life."

Anko narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not backing out now. I've _made_ my choice. Past tense. The only thing that could ruin my life now is keeping this mystery baby, because it means nothing to me. It half belongs to a stranger, so it might as well not be mine at all."

"Okay then," Tsunade sighed, her expression difficult to read. "I guess the procedure can begin. Sakura will begin cutting off feeling of the chakra points below your neck. Take the serum she gives you, and you will be sound asleep for a good hour. Sakura?"

The younger medic-nin handed over a greenish vial, and Anko promptly popped out the cork and took it like one might a shot of liquor.

"See you in a few," she observed. Sure enough, in less than a minute, she was resting peacefully on the operating table.

"Kakashi, the procedure is done," Tsunade said, walking into the waiting room. "Anko should wake up within about a half an hour – we had more time to spare than we anticipated.

The jounin sighed.

"No more baby, then?

The words were nonchalant, but the sentiment behind them was anything but. He had been struggling with his feelings since Anko went back into the operating room – and he was still trying to figure out why. It wasn't because he had any kind of attachment to the child, that was for sure. Most often he resented it for upsetting Anko so much and jeopardizing her career so heavily. The sensation was more a hollowness or fear. Maybe he was concerned Anko wouldn't need him anymore once she got her life back. Or maybe he was just afraid of the magnitude of what she was doing. Maybe both.

Regardless, Kakashi had a bad feeling about what had taken place.

"Well, not exactly," Tsunade replied. "There was a… complication."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"She's okay, isn't she?"

"Yes, yes, Anko will be fine," Tsunade said. "The only thing is… we couldn't abort the baby. It was physically impossible."

"Impossible? How?" Kakashi demanded.

"Well, there's some kind of shield surrounding the baby," Tsunade explained. "And it's not made out of bodily tissues, either – it's chakra. And it isn't Anko's."

Kakashi paled.

"Someone is determined that she keep this child," he said softly. "Determined enough to extend and deplete their own chakra reserves to ensure that it happens. This is no simple jutsu."

"You're absolutely right," Tsunade agreed. "And… to be honest with you, there's something I need to share."

"Of course."

"Well," the hokage began, "we have a very dedicated group of chuunin here in Konoha."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to argue that, but how so?"

"Two of the members of your retrieval team came up with some evidence of what occurred during Anko's mission and went so far as to perform their own brand of tests on it. They came to some… intriguing conclusions."

"That's unbelievable," Kakashi muttered under his breath.

_How could those brats have found something he missed?"_

"Well, believe it," Tsunade said. "Kiba and Hinata came in here with a piece of hair they had recovered that could only have come off Anko's clothes. But it obviously wasn't hers – it was far too long and dark."

"What kind of proof is that?" Kakashi scoffed. "It could have come from anywhere."

"Not so," Tsunade replied. "I thought the same thing at first, but there's simply no way. Hinata had used a byakugan technique on it, and it harbored its own chakra. Ridiculous amounts – way more than the trace amount that could have been expected to remain on an article from even the most powerful of shinobi. But… that's not all. It wasn't normal chakra. It was dark, muddled, and highly unusal in nature. Think about it, Kakashi. Dark hair. Strange chakra. _Anko Mitarashi_."

Kakashi's expression was incredulous at first, but after a moment he lowered his head in recognition.

"What you're saying, then, is there's no debate as to whom the child belongs," he said finally.

"We're both thinking it," Tsunade agreed, "so there's no use trying to deny it anymore. Anko is carrying Orochimaru's child."

Kakashi swore loudly enough that Shizune took notice and poked her head out the door into the waiting room. However, a stern look from Tsunade sent her back to the operating area immediately.

"No need to act so surprised, Kakashi," Tsunade sighed. "You know it from square one. We all did."

"I wished it wasn't, though," he replied. "I would have given anything for it to have been anybody else. I didn't want to believe it."

"I know," Tsunade replied. "Believe me, I know."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"So what on Earth are we telling Anko?" Kakashi asked. "If the chuunin know, it's not like it's any kind of secret. We're going to have to tell her something."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Well… perhaps not," Tsunade countered. "They've done an excellent job keeping her condition a secret to the village, so I don't see how this would be any different."

"It's _completely_ different," Kakashi said. "Because now they're keeping a secret about Anko _from_ Anko herself, and that's not right. Pretty soon one of them will figure out what they're doing to her, get all noble about it, and tell her to her face at the worst possible time and in the worst possible way. It would be better for her to hear it now, from one of us."

Tsunade sighed.

"I don't think you understand the entirety of the situation, Hatake Kakashi," she said, her voice more stern. "You and I both know Anko. As well as anybody does, at least. If she found out she was stuck carrying her hated sensei's child full-term, there's a frighteningly possible chance that she would resort to something drastic. You went on and on about how terrible it was for to lose her career. If you tell her what's going on now, she may very well take her own _life._"

All of the blood drained from Kakashi's face.

"I… understand," he replied softly. "I didn't think about it before, but now I see. We can't tell her – you're right. Now my question is, how do we make sure the chuunin keep the secret?

"They've already been sworn to secrecy," Tsunade replied. "That's all I can do as far as they're concerned. But there's a more pressing matter at hand: now it's your turn to make me a promise. Under _no_ circumstances do you confide to Anko what you've learned here today. It's my intention that she gives birth to the baby before she learns to whom it belongs. We can tell her after the delivery and help her cope with her feelings on the matter, but for the next seven months, don't breathe a word. By managing to remain silent, we very well may be saving two lives."

"What… what if she never trusts any of us again?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Well then, I guess that's a risk we'll have to take."

Another pause came, followed by a sigh and a labored response.

"I guess you're right."

* * *

Kakashi knocked on the doorframe of the hospital room Anko occupied. A moment or two passed, but she finally turned her head towards the sound. Her expression was a little dazed, but she was alert enough to understand what was happening.

"Good mornin'," she said casually. "What's up?"

"You, evidently," Kakashi replied, taking a seat on a chair that had been left beside the bed. "Feeling rested?"

"Mmm, I am, actually. It's nice to wake up not wanting to throw up."

Kakashi chuckled a little bit, but it was clear enough to Anko that his mirth didn't extend to his eyes.

"What's got you down?" she demanded, sounding a little defensive.

_Of course – she assumed he was resenting her for choosing to abort the baby._

"Well, um… the procedure didn't go exactly as planned."

Anko's expression transformed rapidly through several different stages: first surprise, then confusion, then finally, anger. She sat up, a hand having moved unconsciously to rest over her abdomen.

"What are you talking about? It's practically an outpatient procedure! Tsunade does these monthly at least. How could it have gotten messed up?"

"Your situation is a bit different than most of the ones Tsunade sees come through here," Kakashi sighed. "You're – "

"Wait," Anko interrupted him. "Before you tell me anything else. Am I going to be okay? And what's the story on the baby?"

"You're going to be fine," Kakashi replied with more certainty than he actually felt. "And to make a very long story short, you're still pregnant."

Anko swore.

"Okay, fine. I'm going to be okay, but I'm still having the baby. Fine. Just explain to me exactly what on _earth_ happened to make things end up this way."

"Everything was ready and all was going according to plan. You had already been numbed down and put to sleep, and Tsunade had started cutting," Kakashi explained, the words tumbling out. "But as soon as the scalpel Tsunade was using struck the lining of the womb, it was repelled with a powerful force. She couldn't get within an inch of the tissue surrounding the baby."

Anko's eyes and mouth were both wide open with shock.

"A chakra barrier…" she said softly.

Kakashi nodded.

"That's the only thing it could have been."

"But Tsunade's a sannin!" Anko exclaimed, her expression returning to frustration. "She should have been able to get rid of that with no problem."

"Don't think she didn't try. But every time she tried to cast a sealing jutsu, the barrier got stronger. After about twice, she gave up."

Anko shook her head, staring down at her lower body in awe.

"Incredible," she muttered. "It's ridiculous."

"So, that's why you're still pregnant," Kakashi finished. "And it looks like you're staying that way for another seven months."

A few minutes of silence passed between the two, Kakashi occasionally casting glances at Anko, who still appeared deep in thought. She twirled a lock of violet hair around her forefinger and chewed absentmindedly on her lower lip. Her expression was troubled and anxious, but at least she didn't seem angry anymore. Kakashi knew that Anko wasn't one to be needlessly emotional. Evidently, she had moved past the point of frustration and had progressed to trying to accept the situation in which she found herself.

"Fine," Anko sighed after another moment or two, confirming Kakashi's suspicions. "If I'm going to be a mother, I'm going to be a mother. There isn't any half-assing it now. I guess that means we need to get more of those stupid pills. I'm on my last bottle of them."

"Done," Kakashi replied. "I'll talk to Tsunade. You're pretty brave, you know that?"

"Hmph."

As Kakashi got to his feet, he placed a nonchalant kiss on Anko's forehead. Her expression aghast, she followed him with her eyes until his back had disappeared around the corner.


	11. A Lapse in Judgment

Hey everyone... just a bit of housekeeping before we get on to chapter 11. Things are happening now - it's kind of exciting. At least, I'm excited. It's fun to read back over this one. I think it's one of the more epic pieces I've put up here.

The only issue I have is: almost. no. reviews. It's really a little bit discouraging. I know people are reading this story; I have records of traffic and the amount of people who have put it on story alert. However, NinjaSheik was the _only_ reviewer of the last chapter. I know things happen and people get busy, but could those of you anonymously reading it take 30 seconds to drop me a bit of feedback? It means more than you know.

That's really all I've got for now. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the latest installment! ;)

* * *

Kakashi rolled over, drawing more tightly in on himself. It had been a long day. He wasn't entirely sure how much sleep he had gotten, but however much it was, it hadn't been enough. Some annoying sound had shaken him out of his much-needed sleep, and it needed to quiet down. In his half-awake state, he couldn't even really determine what the sound _was._ It reminded him a bit of the way Pakkun used to sound at night when he was a puppy and had been left alone in the kitchen by himself.

But that was an odd thing to be hearing on this night.

Giving a frustrated grunt, Kakashi rolled over. Silence. It seemed for a moment like he had gotten relief from whatever had been the cause of his frustration. However, this peace wasn't to last. A second later, the sound started back. Resignedly, he opened his eyes.

Anko was already sitting up – had whatever had awakened him awakened her as well?

"What's going on?" Kakashi mumbled, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

No response.

Blinking again, Kakashi sat upright as well. Slowly the pieces started to fall together and create a situation that made sense. Anko hadn't been awoken by the noise. Because she was _making _the noise… because she was _crying_.

Anko Mitarashi was crying.

He hadn't seen her do that since she had been told she was pregnant. And that crying wasn't even the same, because that was just hysterics. And completely acceptable, considering the situation. These tears were quite different. They were the depressed, quiet, sniffly kind that he associated with pain and heartbreak – things Anko quite frankly had never had time for.

"Hey," he said softly, putting a hand on her back. "What's the matter?"

Nothing.

"Anko, speak up. I'm worried about you."

Finally, Anko took her hands away from her face. Wiping her eyes on the sleeve of the oversized shirt in which she had been sleeping, she turned to face Kakashi.

"He's going to hate me," she said.

Kakashi found himself perplexed – to say the least. Naturally, his first thought was of Orochimaru, but the relationship he shared with Anko was much too old and much to complicated to merit an impromptu midnight breakdown. The next person who came to mind was Gai, their loyal and ever-present liaison to Tsunade, but Kakashi couldn't imagine Gai hating anyone – especially someone as youthful as Anko.

"Who's going to hate you?" Kakashi demanded, still at a loss.

"The baby. I tried to kill him, so now he's going to hate me."

The explanation hit Kakashi like a load of bricks. The botched abortion, though it had happened almost two months previously, was still on Anko's mind. She was blaming herself for agreeing to do it in the first place.

"You said at the time that your decision was made," Kakashi insisted. "It wasn't a last-minute move of desperation or, worse yet, one made out of spite. It obviously seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

Anko's puffy, tear-stained face contorted into a look of frustration.

"Yeah, but when I made that decision, I didn't know I was going to be living with him afterwards, you know? It's like going on a sting mission to kill a fellow ninja, only to find out later that he's from your own village. It's not just awkward, it's brutal. The difference is that this kid isn't even born yet, and I've already betrayed him."

"Shh," Kakashi urged. "You know it's more complicated than that. You didn't make a choice to kill a person. You made a choice to save your career."

"Yeah – and how selfish is that?" Anko demanded. "I can never do anything that will make him forgive me for this."

"I don't think he knows, Anko," Kakashi said. Though he was trying to sound comforting, he was afraid she would think he was mocking her. That was the last thing on his mind. "He won't ever know, unless you tell him. You can spend the rest of your life being the best mother you can and making it up to him."

"Nothing will ever make it up to him."

A silence fell over the two of them. Kakashi was beginning to realize that nothing he could say would make Anko any more willing to listen to reason. It was late, she hadn't been eating well, and the stress of keeping her secret must have all added up and culminated in this moment.

"Anko," Kakashi said softly. "You need to calm down, and you need to get some sleep. It's the pregnancy hormones talking now."

In a terrifying and entirely unexpected motion, Anko's expression of frustration transformed into one of rage.

"How dare you pin something like this on hormones?" she cried. "It's real. I really am a terrible person and I'm going to be a terrible mother. And you just want to go back to sleep , so you're blaming it on something stupid like hormones. You expect me to just say, 'Oh, how silly of me. It's all chemicals in my brain. It doesn't really matter that I tried to kill my own kid. It will all be better in the morning.'"

"No, actually, I don't expect that."

Anko snorted.

"Yeah _right._"

"Nothing I can say can make this any better, can it?" Kakashi finally asked, heaving a sigh.

"No. And frankly, you're making it worse."

Rolling over, Kakashi listened helplessly as Anko cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning was a cool and nearly silent affair. Both knew that Kakashi was leaving in hours for two-day diplomatic mission to Suna, and Anko had apparently made it her personal goal to say as little as possible prior to his departure. So far, she had limited their conversation to a few grunts and one frustrated, "I'm hungry."

Needless to say, when Kakashi finally got all his stuff together and got ready to go, he wasn't terribly disappointed to be leaving his surly companion behind. He harbored a bit of concern about how well she would be able to manage on her own in his absence (particularly after the previous night's episode) but Gai had promised to visit once a day and ensure that Anko was doing okay. Sakura had also agreed to drop in "unexpected" with some flowers from the Yamanaka's.

"You're feeling well enough to take care of yourself, right?" Kakashi asked, dropping few final items into his bag.

Anko nodded curtly, averting her eyes.

"Good. I've left three plates of leftovers for you in the freezer. Two lunches and tonight's dinner – I should be back in time for dinner tomorrow. There's a bunch of bananas in the cabinet for you to eat for breakfast. Take your vitamins every day and keep the sweets to a minimum."

"Hmph."

"Anko?"

"Fine, I'll do it. I always do it."

With one his customary forehead kisses, Kakashi picked up his duffel back and headed out the door.

* * *

Anko flipped through the channels, bored out of her mind. She couldn't go out in public to entertain herself, because she hadn't made her formal announcement yet about the pregnancy. Tsunade had promised her that she just looked like "she had put on a few pounds" and that she could probably "get away with it with no problem," but in Anko's mind, that was honestly even worse. So she was stuck indoors, entertaining herself with a combination of daytime television and those cheesy-ass sex books Kakashi always read.

Both of them were blasé at best.

She had eaten like she was supposed to, even if an accident with the microwave had left her lunch frozen in the center and turned it boiling hot on the outside. It all tasted like chalk anyway, what with the terrible flavor the vitamins left in her mouth. Gai had dropped by once, kindly bringing her a book of crossword puzzles (that had lasted her all of two hours) and Sakura had come by later with a bouquet of roses (which were currently wilting where Anko had left them beside the sink, after deciding it was too much trouble to fill a vase with water and find a pretty place to put it).

Though both of the visits were supposed to have been spur-of-the-moment, Anko knew better. Kakashi would no doubt have recruited his little minions to drop in and force-feed her his cooking and make sure she was taking care of herself. Typical. Oh-so-typical.

Needless to say, Anko was overcome by boredom and frustration. Also needless to say, she was intrigued when her doorbell rang at four o'clock. Both of Kakashi's babysitters were training – so who could it be?

Groaning as she got to her feet, Anko looked through the peephole. The face grinning up at her was that of Kiba Inuzuka, the dog boy from the mission that had rescued her. That was a bit strange. But then again, he had been a character. And if she wasn't mistaken (she rarely was) he had taken a particular interest in her.

Perhaps the night wasn't a total waste after all. Anko let him knock once more before she opened the door and raised an eyebrow.

"Hello, stranger," she drawled. "What brings you to this side of town?"

"Hey Anko," Kiba replied. "I knew Kakashi was out of town, and I thought you might be lonely. So I figured I would pay a visit."

Anko narrowed her eyes a bit. This wasn't a complication she had foreseen.

"He didn't put you up to this, did he?" she demanded.

Kiba laughed outright.

"Are you kidding? I think you of all people should know how close Kakashi and I are. I would be the last person he would ask to come pay you a surprise vist."

"Touché – come on in, then."

Kiba followed Anko into the main living room area, where she had been languishing on Kakashi's futon. She gestured for him to take a seat somewhere, and he obeyed, crashing on a chair facing the television. Seeing a cheerful woman on the screen pull a loaf of bread out of the oven and display it to the viewers, Kiba realized he had been correct in his assumption: Anko had been very bored.

"No Akamaru?" Anko spoke up, breaking his reverie.

"Not this time around," Kiba replied. "Hana was taking her dogs to the park, and I told Akamaru to go with them. I don't want Pakkun smelling another dog, ratting me out to Kakashi, and making a scene."

"Ah."

Anko wasn't sure exactly why Kiba was being so secretive, but she was secretly amused. And she secretly liked being in on this clandestine meeting – whatever was going to come of it.

"So, you figured I was bored. Great. Did you bring anything to entertain me?" Anko demanded. "Or are we just going to be bored together?"

"I brought a few movies," Kiba replied, shrugging. "Just dumb old action movies, though."

"Perfect! If I can't get hack-and-slash action from real missions, this will be almost as good."

Kiba chuckled.

"Fair enough."

The two of them sat down to watch one of the movies, Anko stretching out on the sofa again. Though at first their conversation consisted mainly of a running commentary on the movie's special effects and how staged the fights looked, eventually Anko surprised Kiba by saying something that mattered.

"You haven't commented on how fat I am," she observed.

"I guess I didn't notice," Kiba admitted honestly. "I think you look great – I always have."

"Oh-ho-ho," Anko said, laughing a little bit. "That was a little incriminating, if you know what I mean."

"Well, I was just being honest. You're one of the prettiest girls here in Konoha – I've always thought so."

Anko stared at him, a bit caught-off-guard. 'Sexy,' she was accustomed to. 'Hot' was an everyday kind of thing. She even got 'beautiful' every now and then. But 'pretty?' Pretty seemed elegant and feminine – two things she had given up on a long time ago.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"I know so. Have you seen yourself?"

Anko laughed.

"I mean, yeah. But maybe I haven't paid enough attention."

"Maybe you haven't," Kiba agreed. He paused for a second. "Wow… I'm being really forward. And really sentimental, which is probably worse. But I've just been feeling bad for you. You're all cooped up here without any company except for Kakashi, and he seems so serious all the time. I thought you deserved a little bit of fun."

"You're sweet," Anko said. "I like that."

With a smirk, Anko leaned over towards Kiba. Neither of them said a word, but they both knew exactly what was coming. Without hesitation, Kiba leaned up and gave Anko a deep kiss on the lips – the likes of which she couldn't remember having received in quite some time.

"You've got a bit of an edge on Kakashi, right now," Anko said as he pulled away.

"I also have a little something else Kakashi doesn't," Kiba said breathlessly, baiting his last hook. "I… I know whose baby that is."

Anko's breath caught. A thousand questions assaulted her at once, but probably the simplest one managed to fight its way out first.

"How?" she demanded.

"Me and Hinata… we did a little bit of an experiment. And we got some results. We think we have an idea of what happened to you over your mission and how you ended up that way. Do you… do you want to know?"

"Of _course _I want to know!" Anko replied hoarsely. "Spill the beans, damnit! Who's the father?"

"It's…" Kiba paused, hesitating as to whether or not he should go on. But a voice in the back of his head egged him on, insisting that there was no going back now. "It's Orochimaru, Anko."

It was at that moment that the door opened. Kakashi came in to find Anko on her knees, screaming. Kiba stood helplessly off to the side looking desperate – and desperately out of place.


	12. The Breaking Point

Thank you to all my reviewers last chapter! :) You guys really made my day. I'm also going to do a special shout-out to NinjaSheik, who has babysat this story since day one. She's also probably the only reason it's still going. You have my thanks - this has been a very worthwhile project! :) Not that it's anywhere close to done, of course!

P.S. - Sorry Kakashi is an asshole here. But everybody's got to let off a little steam every now and then. ;)

* * *

Kakashi stood in the door for a moment, stunned into silence. He had expected to come home to Anko passed out on the couch in one of his old t-shirts, a few dirty dishes on the table in front of her. He figured the TV would still be running, some infomercial having come on around midnight or so.

The dramatic scene that faced him then didn't even _resemble_ what he had imagined.

Regaining his senses, Kakashi dove down on the floor beside Anko. Once he had a steadying arm around her shoulders, he turned back to Kiba.

"What did you do?" he demanded, his expression one of intense anger.

"I… I just…" Kiba stumbled over his words.

"You told her, didn't you?"

Kiba nodded wordlessly, biting his lip.

"You stupid kid!" Kakashi shouted. "Do you even realize what you've done?"

"I… uh, I thought she deserved the truth!" Kiba said, trying his best to stay his ground in the face of Kakashi's terrifying expression.

"Well that wasn't your decision to make. Get _out_."

Kiba swallowed, but made no move to leave the apartment.

"Are you deaf? Get _out_ before I throw you out!"

That time Kiba took off, never once looking back.

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi turned again to Anko, who had collapsed into a trembling heap.

"Anko…" he began softly, placing a hand below her chin. When he had gently turned her head so that she faced him once more, he could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. That, he had expected. The uncanny part was the way her eyes were wide open, focused somewhere in the distance. She looked almost hypnotized.

"It can't be," she whispered softly after a second or two had passed. "It just can't be. But at the same time… I know it is. It had to be."

"Shh," Kakashi urged her, pulling her closer. To his surprise, she didn't fight him. She simply allowed herself to be pulled, limp as a ragdoll, into his embrace.

"My curse mark has been stinging since I got back," Anko said quietly. "It's been on and off. I figured it was just the nightmares, but now I know. It's because he's actually with me. A part of him… here. Now."

Kakashi fell silent when those words were said. It was only then that he realized he had been holding onto a tiny sliver of hope that the baby wasn't Orochimaru's. And in saying that, Anko had finally dashed whatever of those hopes remained.

"It's not your fault," Kakashi whispered, saying the first words that came to mind. They seemed dumb, wrong, or obvious, but he couldn't come up with anything better.

"I want to believe that," Anko whispered, leaning into his shoulder. "I want to, with all my heart. But at the same time… I know it isn't true. When I was so upset after you got back, it wasn't because I had just found out about the baby being his. In some strange way, I've known that all along. What upset me the most was that in these last few seconds, the memories have come back to me. And Kakashi, you may not believe it. But it _is _my fault. It's completely, entirely my fault."

"Tell me everything," Kakashi insisted. Taking her hand, he helped her back to the couch.

"I went back to him," Anko said, too ashamed to meet Kakashi's gaze. "It sounds stupid because it was stupid, but that's what happened. He found me of course, not the other way around. At least at first. Even I'm not dumb enough to go looking for him. But it was him causing all that commotion in the countryside, as you might have imagined. He raided a few villages along with a couple of his cronies. The damage was bad enough that the villagers assumed it was the work of a syndicate and called Tsunade. Because I knew the region, Tsunade called me when she needed an errand run that way. Everyone thought they were playing it safe, but they weren't. In reality, they were playing right into his hand."

Kakashi kept his gaze steady, but he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"As soon as I got out of Konoha's jurisdiction, the Sound nin nabbed me. Of course. And I did the right thing and fought tooth and nail, but it was Kabuto and three others. That's too much even for me. They dragged me back to their master, who disabled me quickly. He's never had much trouble with that."

Another tear rolled down Anko's face, and Kakashi fought the urge to brush it away with his finger. But he didn't want to interrupt her.

"I refused to go anywhere near him, for the first few days I was there. And he acted appropriately dismayed, but I'm pretty sure he was counting on that. He kept saying the strangest things about how pleased he was that the curse mark had done its job. How happy he was that I had found my way back to him after all this time."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"I know, right?" Anko agreed. "… Stupid. It was stupid."

"Not necessarily," Kakashi countered. "Please go on, if you can."

"Fine," Anko relented. "But it only gets worse. He kept dropping those hints like that – for days. Stuff like how wonderful it was to see me again and how badly I had been missed. How much it had hurt him to see my hatred over the years."

Anko paused, wiping away a few more tears.

"And I don't know if it was the lack of light, the lack of sleep, the lack of real food, or just my own stupidity, but after a few days, it started to sound right. First a part of me started wondering if it was true, and then suddenly, it was like I believed it wholeheartedly. All of the things I had been trying to reconcile for the last twelve years fell into place once I believed that he had cast me away to save _us._ To make it so I could come back to him when the time was right – after I had come of age."

Anko gave Kakashi a look of guilt.

"After I started believing that, I didn't fight anymore. I spent a week with him at least. And I'm not going to lie – it was perfect. It was everything I had ever secretly wanted over the last twelve years."

Kakashi continued to nod understandingly, but he was beginning to feel something strange. A burning feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Was it jealousy?

He didn't have much time to ponder the emotion, because shortly after that, Anko began talking again.

"But it wasn't to be. I think we all know how my fairytale ends. He must have erased my memory like before and just cast me out into the woods where his Sound nin had snatched me a week and a half before. That was where Kiba finally found me, too - knee deep in the mud. Orochimaru knew you guys were on your way, thanks to that little spy we found on the way back. And back home in the Hidden Leaf Village was exactly where he wanted me."

The two sat in silence for another moment, Anko rubbing her eyes, trying to get rid of the few tears that remained.

"What are you going to do now?" Kakashi ventured hesitantly. "Are you still… keeping the baby?"

"Well, it doesn't look like I have too much of a choice there, do I?" Anko asked. "I mean, we've already been down that road."

"True," Kakashi replied. "I guess I just wanted to know if knowing the baby's father changed anything."

Anko sighed.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid, like try to kill myself. I know that's what you're all worried about."

Kakashi could feel himself relaxing a little bit. She had an uncanny way of saying what they were both thinking, and it never ceased to take the pressure off him. He should probably learn to just speak his mind, but it was so much easier to let her do it for him.

"That's not how I operate," she said. "You should know that after last night. I'm already certain I'm going to make a terrible mother. No point now in not trying to be a mother at all. I owe this kid that much at least."

"You're not going to be a terrible mother," Kakashi said. "I can already tell how much you care about this baby."

"Well, caring isn't always enough."

Kakashi thought over her words. In a way, they were simply too true – for him just as much as for her. He could care about Anko until he felt as though his heart was going to burst, but it obviously wasn't enough to make her notice him in that way. And it might not even be enough to de-focus her thoughts from her manipulative, evil former sensei.

* * *

The next morning, Kakashi awoke before Anko. His bedmate was curled up as far away from him as she could be, same as always. And also in her usual fashion, she had taken all the covers with her. He wondered sometimes why she insisted on sharing a bed rather than letting him sleep on the couch and taking his bed for herself, as he had offered on multiple occasions. At first he wondered if she would have felt guilty about doing that, but then realized that it was Anko he was talking about. She was a shameless mooch of everything from the hospitality of others to those dango sweets she loved so much.

So it wasn't the guilt thing.

Then he wondered if she was looking for a way to keep warm, but that too seemed silly. She never got close enough to benefit from any shared body heat.

So it was still a mystery why Anko was so keen on sharing his bed. But Anko was full of mysteries, so that in itself was nothing new.

Kakashi stretched as he got up, trying to move slowly so the bed didn't squeak and awaken his companion. It seemed as though he had succeeded, because the only move Anko made was to roll over and twitch her hand a little bit more tightly around the covers. It wouldn't be long before she took over his half of the bed as well. She always seemed to do that within only a few minutes - or seconds - of him vacating it.

Kakashi pulled the door until it was just a few inches away from being closed, hoping to mute the sound of his footsteps on the tatami mats. He wondered sometimes if he was a bit too careful around Anko. But then, he would always remind himself that the mother-to-be needed all the sleep she could get. And if that meant he had to wander around his own house as though he were walking on eggshells, so be it.

His usual routine was well underway when the thought first occurred to him. He had already gotten as far as the kitchen, where he had pulled a carton of eggs out of his refrigerator and begun slicing fruit. In fact, the knife he held was just sliding through a banana when the idea struck him, freezing him to the core in spite of the stove that was heating up mere inches away.

_Orochimaru must have had a motive for taking Anko away._

After all, he was one of the sannin – and the Otokage. Orochimaru wouldn't have wasted his time on such an elaborate plan to lure Anko into the wilderness alone if he didn't have a purpose for her when she arrived. This fact seemed painfully obvious, and Kakashi was a bit frustrated that neither he nor Tsunade had spent any time thinking about it. He supposed they must have been too wrapped up in Anko's immediate problems. Noble though that may have been, Kakashi realized that they had missed a majorly important part of the story.

The next step, he supposed, was to brainstorm what the motive possibly could have been. The only information he had to work with were the memories Anko had shared. Kakashi mulled them over, trying to think of any minor details he may have overlooked in the first telling, but nothing came to mind. The story seemed pretty black and white: Orochimaru kidnapped Anko, tricked her into believing what she had wanted to believe all along, and taken advantage of her emotionally and physically as a result.

Kakashi's response to his first idea was one of disgust: had Anko been lured into a trap simply for the purpose of serving as Orochimaru's plaything for a little while? Someone to willingly give herself up to him and fulfill the more _human _desires he was being denied during his time dwelling in an underground hideout?

Disgusting and evil as that would have been, Kakashi was a bit relieved when he decided that it was also unlikely for several reasons: firstly, Orochimaru had never shown any evidence of being motivated by sex. He had not had any female companions of that sort during his time in Konoha – at least, not any that anyone had known about – and anyway, Jiraiya loved to tell stories about how his male teammate had declined many offers to accompany him to see exotic dancers in Suna and share magazines of a decidedly masculine nature. Secondly, even if Orochimaru had wanted to share his bed with a female, there were plenty of choices in Otogakure itself. His own women were attractive in their own right – at least, as Kakashi remembered them from the chuunin exams several years previously – and would no doubt have been honored to "entertain" their kage in such a fashion.

So, no, Anko probably hadn't been kidnapped for sex. But then again, a physical union between sensei and former student had definitely happened – the baby alone was good enough evidence to prove that. And Kakashi didn't recall any other major events from Anko's story… there had been no talk of strange experiments or forbidden jutsus or anything else one would more readily associate with Orochimaru.

So, in conclusion, he had no more idea as to the reason for Anko's capture as he did before he had jumped aboard his wild train of thought and burned two eggs. Hearing a sound behind him, he scrambled to turn on the fan

"What's that smell?" Anko demanded, making a face as she walked into the room.

"Oh, um, I got a bit distracted while I was making breakfast," Kakashi replied.

"Oh."

Silence ensued in the room for a few minutes. Kakashi knew very well why _he _was feeling so awkward, but as for Anko, he couldn't say. She was always more talkative than this after waking up – she had proven herself to be an irritatingly energetic morning person in the past.

Kakashi cleared his throat.

"There's, um, something I wanted to talk to you about."

He was confused for a moment before he realized that the echo he had heard when he finally spoke occurred because Anko had said exactly the same words he had at exactly the same time.

The two shared a moment of nervous laughter.

"You go ahead," Anko said.

"No, you," Kakashi insisted.

Anko sighed.

"Fine. I honestly just want to get this off my chest and move on anyway. I, um… I kissed Kiba last night."

Kakashi couldn't move quickly enough to disguise the clatter that had occurred when he dropped the metal spatula he had been holding.

"I know," Anko moaned. "I shouldn't have done it. I'm twenty-seven and pregnant, and he's… what? Seventeen? Yeah, I'm a whore…"

"Age isn't even the issue," Kakashi said sternly. It amazed even him how suddenly the anxious thoughts of Orochimaru and kidnappings and motives had fled his mind and become replaced by that same burning feeling he had had the night before. Although this time, there was no questioning the origin of the emotion: it was pure, unadulterated jealousy.

"How do you figure?" Anko asked. "I'm pretty sure a ten year age gap when the chick is older is pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable."

"Well, yes, I'm not going to argue that," Kakashi said. "But what concerns me is the impression you gave him. He's smitten with you, Anko, it doesn't take a genius to see that. By kissing him, you gave him a lot of expectations. Do you plan to see them through?"

Anko opened her mouth to reply, but apparently thought better of whatever she was going to say, because she had soon closed it again to think a bit more. When she did speak, Kakashi could have kicked himself for expecting her be remorseful. She was downright defensive, in true Anko-fashion.

"I don't know," she said smartly. "I can't predict the future. He wanted a kiss, so I kissed him. Besides, I was really pissed off at you. It's making you mad – I can tell. So maybe it worked."

"Anko, you can't play with people like that," Kakashi snapped. "It's not fair to him… or me, for that matter."

"Maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones," Anko mimicked, sticking out her tongue.

Kakashi slammed his hand down on the counter, finally having lost his patience with his precocious, high-maintenance, downright _childish_ housemate.

"You can't mindlessly accept every bit of affection anybody throws your way!" he shouted, turning to face Anko, who shrunk back, looking shocked. "You can't fuck Orochimaru, accept Kiba's kisses _and _share my bed without telling any of us _shit _about how you actually feel about us or the others. I know Orochimaru did you wrong in a major way, but Kiba and I deserve better – both of us. I also know you're pretty desperate for attention. I get that, okay? And I know you're in a shitty circumstance right now. But you've got to take some responsibility and quit stringing people along. You can't have your cake and eat it too, you know?"

When Kakashi finally stopped his tirade and took a deep breath, he was shocked at what he saw: Anko had dissolved into tears, her face buried in her hands. He was instantly flooded with remorse.

"Hey," he said softly, getting down on his knees beside her. "Hey – that was out of line. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm… I'm really sorry."

"You were honest," Anko coughed out between sobs. "Everything you said was true. I'm a horrible person. I'm going to be a horrible mother, and I don't deserve for anybody to love me."

Kakashi was stunned into silence. He honestly would have preferred that she just call him a heartless asshole and run off to rat him out to Tsunade, who would have given him what he deserved for acting the way he had. He stumbled to find the right words, knowing that whatever he said was probably going to be dead wrong.

"You're fragile right now… you've been hurt. Badly. And you're going through so much. I had no right to blame you – "

"I'm not fragile, dammit!" Anko shouted, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I'm just a manipulative bitch who's finally run out of excuses. You had every right to blame me."

"Anko…" Kakashi whispered, feeling tears stinging at his own eyes.

They had both finally run out of things to say. So they sat there like that for a long time, Anko in a kitchen chair and Kakashi kneeling beside her on the floor. The only sounds punctuating the silence were Anko's ragged sobs and the rustle of Kakashi's gloves against his own hair, which he was employing all his self-control not to tear out in fistfuls. Finally, Anko's sobs subsided, and Kakashi had stopped hating himself long enough to think rationally for a moment.

Placing a finger under Anko's chin, Kakashi guided her head upwards so that they faced one another.

"Will you let me carry you over to the sofa? I need to right quite a few things that I've just messed up."

Anko nodded, sniffling. Holding her arms up, she allowed Kakashi to lift her gently and carry her into the living room, where he sat down and proceeded to position her comfortably on his lap. It was the closest she could remember having been to him the whole time she had been staying in his house.

"I wasn't lying when I said you messed up," Kakashi started, his expression stern, but not at all accusatory. "But I shouldn't have reacted that way. A moment of frustration and jealousy got the better of me."

Somewhere in the back of Anko's mind, a red flag went up. Jealousy? He was actually _jealous_ of what she had done with Kiba?

But these thoughts remained in the back of her mind, because she was determined to focus on what Kakashi was saying.

"I shouldn't have been so loud and rude. I know I upset you. Can you forgive me?"

Without taking a moment to pause, Anko nodded.

"And… can you forgive me?" she asked softly. "I know I have a long road ahead of me making things right between us – all of us – but I'm determined to do it. One way or another, everybody is going to know where they stand."

Kakashi kissed Anko's forehead, and held her more tightly for a moment. In the aftermath of the explosive interaction that had passed between them, the importance of what he had been thinking about before Anko awoke began to come flooding back full-force.

"You have all the time you need," Kakashi assured her. "But for now, I think both of us could use a good breakfast. Also, you have an appointment with Tsunade this afternoon, and there are a few important things that all of us need to discuss."

Anko nodded. Taking Kakashi's hand, she allowed herself to be led back to the kitchen, which didn't smell half as strongly of burned eggs as it had when they left.

* * *

Soooo... a brief re-cap:

Anko is now almost four months pregnant, and is soon going to have to share her secret with the village.  
Kakashi is in love with Anko (and clearly feeling a little bit injusticed by her glib and uncaring acceptance of his hospitality - not to mention her abject failure to notice the fact that he cares about her in more than just a 'friend' kind of way). He also wants to solve the mystery of why Orochimaru kidnapped Anko in the first place - a topic that will be explored later at their meeting with Tsunade.  
Kiba is out in Konoha somewhere convinced Anko is in love with him and (probably) fantasizing about the two of them running away together.  
Kabuto will soon be arriving in Konoha to check on Anko's progress.  
Orochimaru is lying in wait in a hole underground somewhere, imagining all this unfolding and laughing an evil snakey-laugh.

And you, my dear reader, are up to speed! :)


	13. Plans for the Future

Sorry about the wait, everybody - life's been super crazy! But if you're here, that means you've stuck with me, so thanks very much! :) Hope this one will be worth the wait. If it's any enticement to read, Anko does figure out what gender the baby is. That's always exciting. ;)

Well good reading - R/R!

* * *

When Kakashi and Anko arrived at Tsunade's doorstep, the tone of their words and actions was almost back to normal. They were, perhaps, a bit overly apologetic where one another were concerned, but that was the extent of the change that had resulted from their violent argument in the kitchen.

"Hello," Shizune greeted them, smiling widely. "Hi Anko and baby."

Anko even managed a small smile at these words.

"It probably doesn't have ears yet," she muttered.

"Wrong!" Shizune chided. "All organs are functioning at the three month mark. That doesn't mean it understands, but it loves the sound of your voice."

"Hm."

Anko's expression was one of passive interest as she followed Tsunade into the lobby below the Hokage's office.

"You'll have to excuse Tsunade, she's running a bit late today," Shizune said. "She's trying to get her things together for a physical therapy session with Rock Lee this afternoon."

"Yeah…" Anko said, rolling her eyes. "That or it's a bad hangover. But the first one definitely sounds better."

Kakashi shook his head, smiling a little bit. She was lucky the hokage hadn't overheard that quip – clever though it may have been.

"So when do we get to find out the gender of the baby?" Anko demanded. "I'm tired of all this 'it' stuff. Now that I can feel it pummeling my insides, I want to be able to start thinking of names and stuff."

Shizune's expression was blank.

"You haven't found out yet?" she asked.

"No… aren't you two supposed to tell me?"

"Well, there are tests we can do, but we rarely ever pull them out," Shizune admitted. "Mostly people just find a byakugan user and ask them to find out. Most of them are pretty adept at identifying the gender of a fetus at this point, particularly the women – "

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Anko demanded. Her fact was alight with excitement; clearly any apprehension about the appointment had been forgotten. "Fetch me a Hyuuga!"

Kakashi laughed.

"We can't just go 'fetch,' you human beings, Anko," he said.

However, right as he was finishing that statement, a blur of orange coming in through the door cut him off.

"Grandma Tsunade, I know you said not to bother y – "

"Hold it!" Anko shouted.

Naruto stopped mid-word and gazed up at her. Fortunately, Kakashi had had the foresight to loan her his jounin vest on the way over, so the baby bump was sufficiently covered.

"The hokage is busy at the moment," Anko said. "But I have an important job for you. Go get me that Hinata girl."

"But – "

"No buts!" Anko shouted. "I have trouble finding the patience for you regardless, but right now, I'm in a hurry!"

"Yes ma'am Snake Lady sensei!"

Naruto turned and rushed out just as quickly as he had entered.

"I hope that wasn't anything urgent," Shizune muttered. "I guess it doesn't really matter now."

"If it were urgent, he would have argued," Kakashi reassured them. "He's afraid of Anko, yes, but fear doesn't usually stop him when he's particularly determined."

Anko's lips formed a small smile.

"I think I might like him more than I thought," she said.

Shizune only smiled and shook her head.

"Well, while you two are waiting, I suppose I should give you the run-down of the questions we always ask expecting couples… is that okay?"

Anko nodded, acting as though nothing unusual had been said.

In the background, Kakashi was a bit shell-shocked.

"_Expecting couples…"_

The syllables echoed in his mind until they didn't even sound like words anymore. However, their meaning was as clear as ever. He was part of an expecting couple. He was "with" – whatever that word implied – a woman who was going to have a baby. He was already taking responsibility for that child, and as its birth approached, these responsibilities were only going to increase.

It was all so… _sudden._

"Hey!" Anko exclaimed, waving her hand in front of his face. "Anybody in there?"

Kakashi blinked and quickly shook his head.

"I'm sorry – what was the question?"

"We need to know Anko's blood type," Shizune repeated a third time.

"You don't know?" Kakashi demanded, giving Anko a look of surprise and slight disapproval.

"I can't remember shit like that," Anko replied, shrugging her shoulders. "So, do you know it or not?"

"You're A… like Genma, Ibiki, and Hinata."

Anko raised an eyebrow.

"Okay then… guess I'm A. Next question?"

Kakashi thought it rather ironic that he had gone to the trouble of memorizing all of the Konoha shinobis' stats – blood type included – and Anko wasn't even responsible enough to remember her own, but that was just another bit of proof that he needed to remain in the picture and continue to be the responsible one.

"That about sums it up," Shizune said brightly. "Everything sounds good to me, but we won't be able to tell you anything conclusive until Tsunade-sama examines you, of course."

Anko opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door opening.

"Hey there!" Naruto exclaimed. "I brought you one Hyuuga – as requested!"

Hinata, who was being dragged along by the hand, was glowing pink. She looked to be on the verge of passing out.

_Of course, _Kakashi thought. _Proximity to Naruto._

And, as an afterthought:

_Of course he's oblivious._

"Well done," Anko said, smiling widely. "Now _out_."

Naruto's grin faded quickly.

"What?"

"I said _out_," Anko repeated.

"But I needed to talk to Lady Tsunade," Naruto insisted.

Anko was about to say something, but Kakashi held up a hand.

"We're doing some important business," he said calmly. "Can this wait an hour or so?"

"I guess," Naruto muttered, looking dejected. "Bye, Kakashi-sensei."

"Goodbye, Naruto."

Once the door had shut behind the blonde genin, Anko clapped her hands.

"You're here!" she exclaimed. "Awesome! Now tell me, girl or boy?"

Hinata was naturally still shell-shocked from having been seized up from a dumpling stand by Naruto of all people, then forcibly dragged to the Hokage's tower. However, when she heard Anko's request, everything made sense. Of course it had to be a Hyuuga, and of course they would choose her – seeing as she already knew about Anko's circumstances. After having considered all this, Hinata regained her composure with impressive speed.

"Um… okay," she whispered. "Let me look."

Hinata gazed intently at Anko for a moment or two, motioning once or twice for the jounin to turn around in place, before blinking and smiling shyly.

"It's a boy," she proclaimed, clasping her hands together. "Congratulations, Anko-sensei."

"Oh my gosh!" Anko exclaimed, jumping up. "That's crazy!"

Shizune and Kakashi shared a smile that was slightly surprised, but entirely happy.

"You're going to be the proud mother of a son, Anko," Shizune said.

Anko was just getting to Kakashi to throw her arms around him when Tsunade appeared at the bottom of the steps leading to the tower.

"Hello," she said. Her voice seemed unusually sharp.

"Hi," Anko said, immediately stopping and turning around. "What's up?"

"I believe it's time for your examination," Tsunade replied. "If you would please, follow me?"

The occupants of the lobby area exchanged a look of unease, but Anko finally nodded and took Kakashi's hand.

"Of course… let's do this."

The two of them headed up the stairs behind Tsunade, who was walking at an unusually quick pace. Behind her, Anko muttered something under her breath.

"Can we slow it down a little?" she demanded. "Some of us have to waddle."

Kakashi had to smile, despite the way Tsunade's bad mood had affected them all only moments before. Despite all of Anko's drama, frustration, and high-maintenance living, she had a way of lightening the mood regardless of the circumstances.

"_Some of us_ have things to do today. You two can catch up," Tsunade said simply, not even pausing.

Kakashi and Anko exchanged a look, and Anko made a face that threatened to make him laugh yet again.

By the time Kakashi and Anko made it into Tsunade's study, she was already seated behind her desk, her hands folded. Even Kakashi had to admit that she made an imposing figure – but then again, he knew as well as anybody that she was doing that on purpose.

"Sit down," Tsunade commanded.

"What, isn't this an exam?" Anko asked. "Don't I need to strip down and put a needle in my arm? Or at least piss in a cup?"

"Not today. We're going to have more of a discussion. However, we're going to be talking about such sensitive topics, I didn't want even Shizune to be in on it. So 'exam' was the best description I could come up with for my appointment list, but it's not entirely accurate."

Anko shrugged. Still clasping Kakashi's hand, she led him over to the two chairs in front of Tsunade's desk. Once they were both seated comfortably, Tsunade cleared the desk off and leaned over the empty space to face them.

"So, I've heard you know whose child that is, Anko."

Anko paled.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Nothing goes on in this village without me knowing about it," Tsunade replied. "But now there's nothing more I can do to prevent your finding out, so all that's left to me is damage control. How are you coping with your newfound knowledge?"

"Better than anyone could have expected, according to this one," Anko said, gesturing towards Kakashi. "I mean, it sounds trite, but I feel like I really knew all along."

Anko paused, her former bravado wavering.

"I, uh, I did remember something kind of interesting, though."

"Do tell," Tsunade said, her interest clearly piqued.

"I remember how this whole thing started… what happened with Orochimaru, I mean."

"And?"

"I… I wasn't drugged or anything. As much as I hate to admit it, everything was consensual. He messed with my mind, Tsunade, I swear! He made me believe all kinds of things. I couldn't help but give him all of me… all over again."

Anko paused and looked up, guilt etched in every aspect of her face.

"You… you don't look shocked," she whispered.

"Because I'm not," Tsunade replied simply. "I'm not accusing you of being weak-willed, Anko, but what you've described is precisely Orochimaru's game. He doesn't waste time with things like genjutsu or even drugging or force. He figured out somewhere along the way that other people have some feelings and loyalties and a sense of devotion to others that he does not. Since then, he's used that to manipulate others and subdue them to his will."

Kakashi didn't say it, but he was definitely thinking it: _Tsunade is speaking from experience._

"So… you don't blame me?" Anko asked softly.

"No," Tsunade replied. "You're not the first and you won't be the last. Besides, what's done is done. There's no use passing blame around now."

Anko looked up and nodded, clearly feeling a bit heartened.

"Okay. Thanks, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else you wanted to ask us today?"

"Not really. But I _do _want to hear your questions."

Anko paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, but Kakashi didn't miss a beat. It was as though he had been sitting in wait for that offer to be made so he could pounce.

"I want the answer to one question," he said. "Why did Orochimaru kidnap her in the first place?"

Anko gave Kakashi a look of surprise, but turned to Tsunade quickly. It was clear that she wanted the answer as well.

"I can't claim to know how he thinks, though I have a few guesses. But clearly you've given it a lot of thought, Kakashi. What do _you _think?"

"I _have_ given it a lot of thought," Kakashi admitted, "but none of the reasons I've come up with make sense. He could have kidnapped her for information, but he knows better than that. There are plenty of shinobi who know everything Anko does but would be both easier to trap and easier to use for information. Then I wondered about whether it was some kind of need for Anko in particular, given their past together. But if that were the case, it seems odd that he would cast her off so quickly."

"I'm impressed by your logic, Kakashi, but I think you've left one important fact out of your reasoning," Tsunade said.

"What?"

"Well," the hokage said, "clearly there was some… physical interaction. You can tell by the fact that there's a baby."

"Honestly, that just confused me more," Kakashi said, his voice growing a bit sharper. Clearly, he thought he was being mocked. "If it was an issue of 'female company,' with all that implies, wouldn't it be easier just to recruit one of the girls from sound?"

"Well, I don't think it was just an issue of the sex itself," Tsunade said, her bluntness causing Anko to bit her lip and Kakashi to frown even further. "Has it ever occurred to either of you that some people have sex for the purpose of producing children?"

Anko and Kakashi exchanged a look that began as shock, but slowly faded into awed understanding.

"You think… the baby was part of the plan," Anko said softly. "Like, he wanted to have an heir, and he wanted me to be the mother?"

"Possibly," Tsunade said. "That, or he wanted to see if a child would carry any of the traits from its mother's curse mark."

"That's got to be it!" Kakashi exclaimed. "It answers everything: why it had to be Anko, why he kept her for so long, why the physical relationship was so necessary… all the holes are filled in."

"But it also raises another question," Anko said, her voice trembling a little bit. "If that's the case, it means… he's not through with me yet. Will he be coming back?"

Tsunade nodded slowly.

"That's the reason we needed so badly to talk like this today. You need to be ready. I'm a bit surprised that he hasn't already sent someone to check up on your progress, but then again, he may very well have a spy among us already. My biggest concern is that you're getting too far along. I'm afraid he's going to decide to take both mother and child back to wherever it is that he's hiding out."

There was a silence for a moment.

"Do I need a bodyguard?" Anko finally asked, looking a bit concerned. "I could ordinarily take care of myself, but this whole pregnancy thing kind of limits me."

"You're sleeping in the same bed as Kakashi Hatake," Tsunade said, laughing a little. "What more do you need where guarding is concerned?"

Anko laughed too.

"Yeah… I guess you're right. I just… don't know what to do differently."

"Not much," Tsunade admitted. "Although I will have to ask that you don't go anywhere by yourself. We can't take any chances. You can have Kakashi go with you, or just take Gai or Sakura. Whatever's most convenient."

"Fair enough," Anko sighed.

Kakashi could tell that Anko was frustrated at having her beloved independence compromised, but she didn't protest or make a scene about it.

Maybe even Anko was beginning to grow up a little bit.

* * *

"Master, I don't understand why you won't let me simply take Anko away from Konoha and bring her back here," Kabuto insisted. "It would be much easier to keep an eye on her progress that way, and besides, that way we would be certain the baby comes into our possession."

"You raise a valid point, Kabuto, but you should know by now that I have my reasons," Orochimaru said curtly. "I have the whole plan figured, and everything is playing out exactly like it's supposed to."

"Well, I never doubted that, but – "

"None of your excuses," Orochimaru snapped. "For now, just follow the orders you've been given. If you leave tonight, you should be able to arrive in Konoha by sunrise. Try not to be spotted and use as few jutsus as you possibly can. There are people there that will remember your chakra signature."

"Good thinking, Orochimaru-sama."

"Naturally. And one more thing… spend some time around Anko if you can. Don't rely on the gossip you hear at the dango stalls and sake bars. Watch her long enough that you would know if something is truly wrong."

"Yes, master. Consider it done."

"Then get it done!" Orochimaru exclaimed. "I see no reason to have you wasting any more time here. You have your orders, your bags are packed and waiting. Goodbye!"

With a quick bow, Kabuto had disappeared from the room.

"Acutally," Orochimaru said, to nobody in particular, "I like her being there. The best medic nin in the world to take care of her, the legendary copy-nin as her guard dog… Konoha's best and brightest are serving me quite well."

Laughing coldly, Orochimaru watched out the window as Kabuto disappeared over the hill outside the hideout.


	14. The Beginning of the End

Hi readers! :) Thanks for coming back for the latest installment. Sorry again about the delay. :( In my defense, this time my internet was down. I had it ready about a week ago. BUT STILL. You're here and you're reading. Thanks! :) Updates should be more regular from here on out (crosses fingers). I finally figured out where I want this story to go, and I'm about halfway through the next chapter. We are nearing the end, believe it or not! And it IS going to be an Anko/Oro story. (heehee). I'm excited.

Enjoy some more WAM!

* * *

As the door to Kakashi's apartment building closed behind them and they stepped out into the cool evening air, Kakshi couldn't help but notice the way Anko held his arm a little more tightly than usual.

"Are you cold?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Anko replied.

"Oh."

Kakashi let it go at that for the time being, but he couldn't help but press the matter further as she almost tripped him when they crossed the road in front of the apartments.

"Are you sure you're okay? You're walking really close…"

"I'm _fine_."

It was then that Kakashi realized what was actually going on: Anko Mitarashi was _nervous_. A small smile formed under his mask.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Kakashi asked.

"No!"

"Yes you are!"

Anko pursed her lips, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Am not."

"Anko…" Kakashi angled his head questioningly. It was only a matter of waiting for her to admit it. She was clearly lying.

Finally, his companion relented.

"Maybe a little bit."

Kakashi put his arm around her, drawing her even closer.

"See, was that so hard?" he asked, hugging her. "It's okay to be a little bit anxious about things sometimes. You're about to share some big news."

"But they're just my friends!" Anko whined, stamping her foot. "I can step into hostile territory without breaking a sweat, I can throw a kunai with perfect accuracy even when I'm surrounded by enemy on all sides… why am I panicking over a little dinner party?"

"Anko, you're comfortable with all of that stuff because you're accustomed to it," Kakashi explained. "This is scary because it's brand new. You've never had to tell a group of friends that you were pregnant before."

"Do you have to say that word?" Anko demanded, rolling her eyes. "It's so weird and gross."

"Pregnant?" Kakashi asked. He had to stifle a laugh.

"Yes, that one!"

"Well you're going to be saying it in a few minutes," he pointed out. "I think you would only be making the situation more awkward by saying something like 'I'm with child' or 'I'm in a family way' or better yet, 'I got knocked up…'"

"You're not funny, knock it off."

"_I_ find it all quite humorous."

"Yeah, I _bet _you do."

The two continued on with playful banter like this as they walked past the row of well-lit shops leading to Ichiraku's ramen. Anko was beginning to loosen up a little bit, and as soon as the familiar smell of chicken broth and noodle dough met them outside the shop, she felt entirely relaxed and ready to meet her public. Kakashi led her through the entryway under the cloth awning to the sea of familiar faces waiting inside.

And at the sight of them, Anko was suddenly terrified all over again. Kakashi felt her hand tense and inwardly groaned. Things were about to get awkward.

"Anko, it's so wonderful to see you!" Kurenai exclaimed, jumping up. She held out her arms for a hug, but Anko's only response was to back up as though her friend carried a deadly disease. She knew that the second Kurenai pulled her close, she would feel the rigid bump that was six months' worth of baby growth.

Kurenai, knowing none of this, stopped in her tracks. Her expression was one of confusion and hurt.

"Let's just sit down," Kakashi suggested, doing his best to dissipate the awkward moment. "There are a lot of things that we need to talk about."

Kurenai nodded and hurried back to her seat.

"We've saved you two a couple of seats in the middle," Iruka said. "Right here next to Gai."

"Thank you," Kakashi replied. "Why don't you sit between Gai and me, Anko?"

Anko nodded and sat down quickly, her eyes never leaving the floor.

"I don't think there's much use for pretense anymore, so I'm just going to go ahead and spit this out," Kakashi sighed. "That is, if you don't mind, Anko…?"

The stiff and uncomfortable woman on his right shook her head quickly, as though to say that she was in favor of anything that prevented her from having to share the news herself.

"Okay then. We decided to get everyone together tonight to explain why Anko's been hiding away since her last mission ended. She's not sick, so don't worry about that… she's just been struggling a little bit with how to tell you all this. Everybody, Anko's pregnant."

A hush fell over the table, and Anko could feel the blood in her veins turn to ice.

"Kakashi, are you…?" Genma's voice trailed off, but Kakashi knew exactly what was coming. He had been expecting it.

"I'm not the father," he said matter-of-factly. "But we know who is, and he isn't in a position to take any responsibility for the child's well-being, so I am doing so in his place. At least for now."

The silence was unbearable – until Kurenai mercifully broke it.

"Anko, I don't know what to say," she whispered. "Except… why did you wait so long to tell us?"

"It's complicated," Anko replied, finally looking up. Tears sparkled at the corners of her eyes. "I obviously wasn't planning on getting pregnant, and it certainly didn't happen on purpose. It was hard for me to accept… and let's just say it happened under strange circumstances. I was struggling to deal with everything, and I didn't want to be a burden on everyone else, too."

"Anko, you've never been a burden," Kurenai sighed, getting to her feet. "You should know that. You're our best friend – we want to share stuff like this with you. Let us help you. Your world isn't ending, it's just changing. You're moving onto the next phase of your life."

Kurenai bent down next to Anko's chair and put her arms around her friend's shoulders. Anko wanted to return the embrace, but all she managed to do was fall limp into Kurenai's arms – because the words she said words meant nothing.

They might have been nice to hear – that is, if Kurenai had any idea what she was talking about. But she didn't, or she wouldn't have said any of it. After all, she probably just assumed that the baby was the result of a one-night stand with some jounin from another village who didn't want to bother with fatherhood. Little did she know, it was _so_ much more complicated than that.

The baby's father was a cold-blooded killer, and the worst traitor Konoha had ever seen. This wasn't a problem that could fade away or be remedied by a few kind words and a few friends rallying around her to help her pay bills.

"We were so worried, Anko," Iruka said, laughing weakly. "We thought you were sick or dying. This is a beautiful thing, though. Children are a blessing!"

"If you say so," Anko sighed.

What was the use? She couldn't exactly share the truth with any of those people. First of all, they'd panic, and worse yet, they would probably try to get involved and track down Orochimaru on their own. She wasn't going to get anyone else wrapped up in her problems. Not again.

It was a bit of a shame, though, she realized as an afterthought. These were people she had once trusted with the greatest secrets of her life. And that hadn't even been so long ago. Months, even. Practically days. Yet they suddenly seemed to be an ocean away from her, living on an entirely different plane of existence.

"Well, the cat's out of the bag," Kakashi said, trying to draw attention away from Anko as discreetly as he could. "Why don't we all just eat a hot meal and enjoy one another's company?"

The meal went on almost as normal. They each took their turn to order drinks, and Anko realized with a bit of distaste that she was the only one – along with Gai, who chose never to drink – who didn't order an alcoholic beverage. She had hoped that maybe at least one of her friends would be sympathetic to her plight and commiserate with her over a glass of water or soda, but it wasn't to be. Instead, she sat in a sea of cocktails, disgruntledly sipping a marble soda.

"What's the baby's gender, Anko?" Iruka asked as Ayame took dinner orders.

"It's a boy," Anko mumbled.

"Congratulations!" Kurenai said, smiling weakly. It was clear she hadn't gotten over her hug having been turned down earlier, but she was doing her best to recover and be encouraging.

"Yeah," Anko replied.

"Do… do you have much stuff yet?" Iruka asked. "I suppose you're going to need a crib, a changing table, and some more things like that."

Anko gave Kakashi a quick look. They couldn't exactly come right out and say that she was practically on lock-down at Kakashi's apartment and was only allowed to get a dinner out because at least five other jounin were going to be there. So how to respond to a question like that?

"I… I need to go to the bathroom," Anko said, quickly getting up. As she left the table, she could hear Kakshi's words drifting back to her. It was something about _not much time_, _Anko's been very tired_… bullshit. All of it was bullshit. Her stomach churned as the anger rose up inside of her, and when she finally arrived at the small restroom and threw open the door, she had to rest for a moment against one of the concrete walls.

But when she did, she was suddenly distracted from her anger, because shet felt a stabbing pain in her abdomen. Inadvertently, she gasped out loud.

"What's going on?" she murmured, pulling up her shirt. She almost though she could see a difference in the shape of her baby bump, but that seemed silly. It hardly had much room to move in there. For a fleeting moment she wondered if it was a result of the botched abortion. But that was ridiculous. It wouldn't suddenly happen months after the fact. That was outrageously irrational. Her stomach was probably just cramping, and having the baby in there made it worse. Nothing could actually be wrong with her or the baby, or she would have known much sooner… right?

Splashing a bit of cool water on her face and taking a deep breath, Anko realized that there was nothing to do but go back to the table where her peers sat, sipping cocktails and making polite conversation. For a little while after she took her seat again, she looked for an opportune moment to lean in and warn Kakashi that something might be wrong.

But, as dinner was served alongside more careful, evasive conversation and nervous laughter, Anko realized that this was hardly the time.

* * *

"You could have at least _tried_ to make conversation," Kakashi insisted as they crossed the street in front of Ichiraku's. "They just wanted to hear how you're doing."

"What would we have talked about?" Anko asked. "What color I'm painting the nursery? How much weight I've gained? That's a bunch of bullshit and you know it. There's so much more to this situation than that."

"It's not their fault we can't tell them who the baby's father is," Kakashi replied. "You could have just talked about generic things about the baby. Like when your due date is. That's the kind of thing people like to hear."

"It's always about the baby, isn't it?" Anko demanded, her voice breaking. "There isn't any 'me' anymore. Nobody wants to know stuff like what I've done to stay busy all cooped up for the last six months. People used to ask me questions about what movies I'd seen recently or if I'd tried the new teahouse in town. I'm still here, but I'm invisible. What about me?"

"Anko – that's not what I meant. It's just that – Anko? Are you listening?"

"I saw something move back there," Anko said softly. "Back in that alley."

Kakashi immediately grabbed Anko's hand and pulled her closer.

"Who's there?" he demanded, pulling up his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan eye.

Anko wasn't sure if she had been drugged, hit, or if her blood pressure had finally just hit rock bottom, but she felt her vision blurring.

"Kakashi?" she asked, trying to extend her arm out towards where she thought he had been standing. "What's going on?"

However, there was no response. Anko only felt herself being pulled into the chest of someone strong, lean, and unfamiliar before everything went black.


	15. Down to the Underground

As usual guys... thanks for hanging in there. :) The story is finally finishing up - it should only be two or three more chapters after this one. I played with the idea of writing a KakaAnko ending, a KibaAnko ending, AND an OroAnko ending, but I liked the OroAnko ending the best, so I decided to just do that one. :3 It's going in a weird, philosophical direction here, but it will all come together quite beautifully. Promise. :)

* * *

Anko awoke to a dimly lit room, where she lay on a mound of cushions in one of the corners. The first thing she was aware of was how comfortably she had been resting… She almost didn't want to awaken at all. There wasn't any natural light to jar her from her sleep; only the soft glow of a lantern in the center of the floor – and the temperature was just perfect. It was the most comfortable she could remember having been in quite some time – aside from something that felt like a thorn in her side, near the lower part of her abdomen.

"You're awake," someone observed.

This, Anko had not expected. Suddenly remembering what had happened to get her to this strange place, she sat up quickly.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

"Just me."

It took her a second, but Anko's eyes finally settled on child sitting on a table across the room.

"And who are you?" she asked, beginning to truly wake up and become aware of what was around her. The room was plain, aside from the table, the cushions, and a couple of wooden boxes. There wasn't any furniture, and the walls were made of dark wooden slats. It was familiar in a creepy sort of way.

"It doesn't particularly matter," the child said, responding to the question Anko had almost forgotten asking. "Nobody you should be afraid of, anyway."

Anko's face flushed.

"I'm not afraid."

"Well that's good," the child replied. "I'm guessing you recognize where you are?"

_No_, Anko wanted to reply. _I have no idea at all… enlighten me._

But before any of those words could be said, Anko suddenly realized in a burst of horror and understanding exactly where she was. It was the smell of the room that gave it away – the firewood smell combined with clean linen and the scent of noodles cooking in a kitchen nearby.

"The shack," she whispered. "Where I grew up… with _him!_"

The child smiled and nodded, but Anko was quickly become too angry to care at all.

"Is he here?" she demanded, looking back and forth quickly. "Because if he is, I'm going to _beat him senseless!_ I'm going to _kill him!_"

"Sit down," the child ordered. "You're in no condition to be beating anyone. And you won't find him around here regardless."

Sighing deeply, Anko sunk back down to the cushions and crossed her arms.

"I'm guessing he sent you, then?" she demanded.

"In a manner of speaking."

"That helps," Anko muttered. "You probably aren't even here. You're probably just a genjutsu."

"No, I'm very much here," the child disagreed.

"Prove it. What's your name, huh?"

"Oro," the child said promptly. "Just Oro."

"That's not very subtle," Anko replied, supporting her unwieldy abdomen as she changed positions on her cushions. "Clearly he told you to tell me that. But really. What's your name, kid?"

"Oro is as close to a name as I have."

Anko stared at the child for a minute, mostly to be stubborn. However, this gave her the chance to observe him with more scrutiny than she had before. His appearance was strangely familiar in a way: he had chin-length black hair and wide, questioning brown eyes that very much mirrored her own. He was skinny but not scrawny; probably about eight years old, if she had to venture a guess.

"You're… you're not _my _child, are you?" Anko asked, with a bit of discomfort. It seemed like a dumb thing to suggest, but then again, she had experienced stranger where Orochimaru was concerned.

The child – Oro – gave her a look of renewed interest.

"No – but do I look like him?"

"How should I know?" Anko demanded, beginning to feel a little silly. "I haven't seen him. And besides, he's only a baby."

"But you have some ideas," Oro insisted. "You have dreams. You feel him, Anko – the two of you share a deep bond. You are of the same body."

"That's asking a bit much, don't you think?" Anko said. "I'm just doing this… because I have to. I even tried to end it. You don't understand how that feels or what that means. I tried to kill this child, and once that failed, I'm stuck with him as an everyday reminder. I don't even deserve any of the small happinesses that come with having this baby inside of me."

Oro's expression saddened a little bit.

"That's quite harsh," he said softly. "You were very confused. Besides, that was _then._ You love him now, right?"

"You only love someone when you want to be loved back," Anko whispered. "And I know love is too much to ask from this baby. I'll never be able to look him in the face or give him a name or truly be his mother. Not after I tried to do that."

"He needs you, though," Oro insisted. "He needs his mother more than you know. And if you decide to tell him – once he's old enough – he will forgive you. Because you will have proven yourself as a loving mother. Don't you believe in the power of forgiveness?"

"That seems like a strange question."

"I think you know exactly why I'm asking it, Anko."

The special jounin raised her eyes to meet Oro's gaze, her expression one of indignation.

"You're saying I need to forgive your master – after all of this? Do you have any idea what he's done to me? What it would mean to forgive him, after everything that's happened?"

"It's quite a tall order," Oro agreed. "But think of it this way – you don't know his side of the story. Maybe he has struggled just as much as you have."

"That's bullshit," Anko said. "He knew what was going on, and he bailed. Just… left me there. Again. I don't know what the fuck he wanted with me; he's already told me how useless I am. Worse yet, he was sick enough to leave me with this little reminder that I gave into him a second time, even after all that happened when I was young. The point is, he's fucked with my mind and my body one time too many. There's no use in me forgiving him, because then I might be merciful to him next time our paths cross."

Oro remained silent for a few minutes, and Anko tried to change positions again on the cushions. She didn't know why tears were stinging at the corner of her eyes. She didn't have to feel remorse for anyone, and she certainly didn't feel sorry for herself – even if she had suddenly become just as uncomfortable and afraid here as she was when she was with Kakashi. Both places were frightening and empty.

"Are you ever going to open your heart again?" Oro finally asked.

Anko almost jumped at the sound of his voice, but when his words registered, her shock was quickly overcome by confusion and frustration.

"That's such a stupid question!" she exclaimed. "That's not for me to decide or you to ask or anybody to even know. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But what you really want to know is if I'm ever going to give _him_ my heart again. And the answer is _fuck no_!"

"No, that wasn't my question. I want to know if you're ever going to let _anyone_ again ever again," Oro countered. "You shut out Kakashi, you shut out Kiba, you shut out your friends – "

"Shut up!" Anko shrieked. "How do you know any of that anyway?"

"It doesn't matter," Oro asked. "And please calm down. I just want to know the truth. You need to control yourself – for the baby's sake."

Anko collapsed back onto the cushions, but she was still trembling.

"You're crying. You're going to cry," Oro said.

"No I'm not," Anko replied through the tears that had suddenly begun running down her cheeks. "I'm not crying. I'm through crying. I don't care at all anymore."

"That's not true. In fact, you have the opposite problem: you care too deeply," Oro said. For the first time, he got down from his table and approached Anko.

"You've been hurt terribly," he whispered, getting down on his knees beside her. "But it can all end here. You can forgive the first wrong that embittered you and start over. It doesn't mean you have to love anyone – at least not right away. Maybe you will, maybe you won't. But you have to end the hate, and then maybe you'll be able to open your heart again."

Anko only continued to sob into Oro's skinny arms until she fell back to sleep from sheer exhaustion.

When Anko awoke once more, it was to Kabuto standing above her putting on gloves. Her first impulse was to leap to her feet and destroy him. However, right as she felt the first burst of adrenaline, her late-night conversation with the strange child called Oro came back to her in a sudden rush. She wasn't ready to sort all of it out, but she knew that something about her feelings had a changed on a deep, fundamental level. She wasn't going to scream or cry out or let her fists fly.

End the hate.

She had to end the hate.

"What are you doing here?" Anko demanded, sitting up on one arm. She wasn't going to destroy him out of hatred, she had decided that much – but she certainly wasn't going to be nice, either.

"Good, you're awake," Kabuto observed, ignoring her question. "I didn't want to have to wake you up myself, but I _do_ need to do an examination. Lord Orochiamru is concerned with your progress."

Anko narrowed her eyes, biting back thousands of emotions as well as the stab of pain she felt every time her sensei's name was mentioned.

"He's concerned _now?_"

"Naturally," Kabuto replied, looking for all the world as though her bitterness confused him. "You're in a high-risk pregnancy and you bear his child. Of course he's concerned."

There were many confusing things in that statement, but two words stood out in Anko's mind.

"High… high risk?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Kabuto responded. "You've been in a very deep sleep since you arrived, and I was afraid to disturb you, but my better judgment finally won out. The shape of your abdomen alarmed me the moment they brought you in. It's clear to me that the baby has descended – much too early, might I add – and I'm afraid it may not be in a position conducive to safe birth. And it should not have descended this early in the process."

"Will… will he be okay?" Anko asked, almost without thinking.

"Who? Lord Orochimaru?"

"No. The baby."

Kabuto's expression became one of mild interest.

"You know it's a boy, then?"

"I… I do."

Anko was suddenly much more guarded. She remembered that regardless of what Kabuto said to her, the less information she could give him the better off she would be.

"Hm. Very well then – I'm sure that information will be of interest to the child's father. But all of that can be discussed later. You asked about the safety of the baby, as I recall, and I have somewhat of an answer for you. He ought to be fine, only smaller than average. Of course, at least for the time being, he'll have a slightly weakened immune system."

"But he'll survive the birth?" Anko breathed.

"I'm fairly certain that he will, yes. Just think of who is parents are. This child should be hardy, if nothing else."

Anko shrugged, willing to grant Kabuto that. Though she tried her best to look nonchalant, something strange resonated within her at his words. The baby didn't just have a mother: it had _parents._ This child belonged both to her and to another person. It would have a certain set of talents and gifts determined by both parents. And, as an afterthought, she realized that her baby's aptitude would be extraordinary.

"The biggest downside to an early delivery will be the pain involved for you," Kabuto explained, shaking Anko out of her thoughts. "I could numb some chakra receptors, but I'm afraid that would make you too disoriented and dizzy to deliver the child. So you may have to do this on your own and at very short notice. It will not be a comfortable delivery to say the least."

Anko felt her stomach flip, but she was determined to keep calm.

"What if I wait for labor to begin naturally?"

"That would be very unwise," Kabuto said coldy, clearly affronted that she questioned his medical prowess. "You're already on a strange schedule. By carrying this child to term, you may very well end its life – and quite possibly your own."

This news was like a splash of cold water to the face. Death? She wasn't ready to face death. She thought she was, in the same way every shinobi did, but when it stared her in the face like that, it seemed a frightening possibility. Her friends back home – estranged though they were – came to mind. How would they cope? Worse yet… how would the _baby _cope if he alone made it through?

But she didn't voice any of these things. Instead, she said the first words that came to mind, strange though they may have been.

"Is that what Orochimaru would want?" she asked. "If the baby happened to survive and he had his brilliant offspring to shape in his image, but the meddling mother was out of the way? It sounds like the kind of thing he would prefer."

Kabuto's eyes narrowed again.

"You clearly have a very warped outlook on the reality of the situation, Mitarashi-_san_," he said softly, the honorific more of jab than it was an expression of respect. "But I will leave that to the two of you to discuss later."

_End the hate… end the hate…_

The words circled in Anko's mind, fighting back all of the bitter things she wanted to say.

"Fine," Anko replied. "Whatever. Just… tell me what's going to happen to me."

"I'm going to induce labor," Kabuto said simply. "And the process will begin. With any luck, you will have delivered in a few hours, but in your condition, it could take days."

Anko kept a stiff upper lip, but she could feel her stomach turn. For the first time since she had been taken away from Konoha, she almost wished for Kakashi or Kiba to be there. It would be much easier to imagine enduring a trial like that with a hand to hold.

Any hand, really.


	16. A Hand to Hold

Welcome to chapter sixteen! I came up with a nice, professional-sounding title for it, but in my heart it will always be "In which we learn that Kabuto has no future as an OB/GYN." ;) His bedside manner sucks, folks. If you don't believe me, read for yourself. Oh, and this chapter gets its own special disclaimer: I am not an OB/GYN either. I'm a scholar in French. So don't take my advice on birthin' babies. I'm a pro-life activist (so I'm better informed than most) but I kind of made this scene up as I went along. As always, thanks for hanging in there – and for the awesome influx of reviews! Enjoy!

* * *

"We don't have too much time to waste," Kabuto said. "You'll need to follow me to my lab. It's the most sterile area we have, so I would prefer to do the delivery there."

"Your… lab?" Anko asked. A lab didn't seem like a very nice place to have a baby. She didn't know much about the whole process, but she did know that Tsunade had a special room for labor and delivery back at the village. According to Kurenai, it was a really nice place, with a cot and lots of blankets. But then again, that was definitely too much to hope for from _Orochimaru._

_Stop the hate… _Anko reminded herself, shaking her head.

At that moment, she felt a fairly sizable kick somewhere around her bladder.

"Yikes," she muttered.

Kabuto raised an eyebrow.

"So are you coming?"

Cursing under her breath, Anko nodded and got unsteadily to her feet. Kabuto didn't offer any assistance, but then again, she probably wouldn't have accepted it regardless. She followed him out the door and into a passageway she definitely didn't remember having been there. It almost looked like a mine tunnel – the roof was low and it smelled damp and musky.

"This isn't the same house," she observed.

"It's hardly a house at all," Kabuto replied. "But I'm guessing you had assumed that it was from the room we just left. It's just a replica, though."

"Why is it there?" Anko demanded. "That seems strange."

"I never asked."

Kabuto clearly wasn't in a conversational mood. However, his silence made Anko aware of something she hadn't noticed before: she was shivering a little bit… and the tunnel was far from cold. It was actually fairly warm. And her heart was pounding much faster than she realized.

It was with a bit of surprised that Anko realized something: she was _afraid_.

She was legitimately afraid. The hardened snake-handler, the kunoichi who had faced down hundreds of enemy shinobi with only her wits and a few dull shuriken was _afraid_ at the idea of doing something women did every day all around the world. The idea made her a little angry – almost like her fear had made her angry when she and Kakashi went to visit her friends and share the news. Had that seriously been less than a day ago? She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but that still seemed ridiculous. It felt like years.

Suddenly, her former wish for a hand to hold returned with a vengeance. It didn't necessarily have to be Kakashi, but he had a way of being there when that was what she needed, so he was the one who came to mind. If she had to be honest, though, he's not the one she would choose. There was simply too much baggage there. She hated the feeling of him being there because he felt like he had to be, and she never felt whatever it seemed like he wanted her to feel.

But all baggage aside, it would be nice to have somebody there. Anybody, really.

"We're here," Kabuto announced, turning the corner into a room that was brighter than the passageway, but certainly no more welcoming. In fact, it was so brightly lit that it made her squint. And the light wasn't golden like the candlelight in the room she had just left. It was bright, white, and fluorescent. The room smelled clean, at least, but the more time Anko spent breathing the air, she began to think it might be a little _too_ clean. It just smelled like chemicals. The back of her throat burned a little.

_She hadn't even gotten to sit down, and she was already miserable as well as terrified…_

As though in response to her thoughts, Kabuto gestured towards a steel bench that looked like an operating table, but curved up slightly in the back.

"Take a seat, please."

Anko, not knowing what else to do, obeyed. The metal was freezing cold and far from comfortable.

"You'll need to remove any clothes at or below the waist," Kabuto instructed her. He had turned so his back was to her, and he was standing a counter covered in beakers containing colored liquids that make Anko nervous. However, she overcame the distraction and quickly pulled off the black leggings she had become accustomed to wearing in the place of her usual fishnets as her pregnancy progressed. Feeling exposed and made even more nervous by that fact, she took off her trench coat and put it over her legs. Her shoulders were now touching the metal too, and she shivered again. Her heart was pounding.

"I've already told you that I can't dull any chakra points, but you can drink this," Kabuto said, turning around and offering Anko a beaker filled with a clear, pinkish concoction.

"What… what will it do?" Anko asked, trying to conceal the way her teeth chattered from both cold and anxiousness.

"It will dull your nerves," Kabuto replied. "And you won't be quite as alert as usual. In large concentrations, it can be used to confuse and disable an enemy, but what you're drinking is far too diluted for that."

Anko gave the beaker a wary look, but tipped it back and downed it, coughing a little as it went down. It left a bitter flavor in her mouth.

"So… what do I do?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"Exactly what I say."

Anko took a deep, rattling breath. It was almost as though Kabuto was trying to make her even more afraid or angry or both.

"What do I do _now_?" she whispered through clenched teeth.

"Well, you wait for the serum to work. Then I can start activating chakra points, thereby inducing contractions. After that, you push when I tell you to push and breathe when I tell you to breathe. I'll give you a cloth to bite down on."

Anko clenched her teeth even more tightly.

"_Lovely_."

She'd known from the beginning (or, at least, from the moment she knew she was keeping the baby) that she wasn't going to be one of those women who would get emotional during the delivery and insist it was her first opportunity to "bond with the baby." She was going to do it as naturally as possible – because supposedly that was healthier – but she wasn't going to make a ritual out of it. It didn't have to be something out of a movie.

However, lying on Kabuto's metal cot, swallowing bitter potion, and anticipating a cloth to bite down on to suppress any screams almost made her wish for the picture-perfect moment in a hospital surrounded by flowers and balloons.

For a moment, she thought she might cry.

"Are you feeling anything?" Kabuto asked. He didn't sound concerned so much as academic, but it wasn't like Anko was surprised.

"Besides the desire to ring your neck?" she replied, swallowing and blinking sharply. "Nothing in particular."

"At two minutes, fifteen seconds, the serum still isn't setting in," Kabuto muttered. "Perhaps you need a second dosage."

A few minutes later, Anko found herself holding a second beaker of the so-called "serum" – this time in a slightly darker shade of pink. Tipping it upside down, she swallowed the contents as quickly as she could. As they slid down her throat, she felt a strange sensation come over her almost immediately. The formerly-blinding lights grew dimmer, and Kabuto's voice sounded further away.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered.

"Ah-hah. Now we're getting somewhere."

"I'm not dying, am I?"

"Of course you're not dying," the doctor scoffed. "That would hardly serve our purposes, now would it? The serum has just dulled your senses. You're naturally feeling weaker, so you'll follow instruction more easily and won't be inclined to panic."

Anko wondered for a moment if she should care that she was entirely at Kabuto's mercy. But she found as the moments passed that it was just as he had promised: the panic never set in. She felt almost like a small child, sitting and waiting to be told what to do. The hand she had rested on her distended belly felt almost as though it belonged to someone else – the touch didn't seem to connect to a specific sensation in her brain.

Suddenly, she felt another cold touch, slightly lower down below her navel. Briefly, she wondered where her trench coat-serving-as-blanket had gone.

"I'm activating and confounding chakra points now," Kabuto muttered. "So prepare for your first contraction in a minute or two."

Anko felt herself nod dumbly. Kabuto's hands continued to move across her, pausing in different places. Little flashes of green light indicated that he was causing some kind of reaction below her skin, and she felt a stir somewhere deep within her.

"Kabuto – I think – auuuugh!"

She couldn't help but cry out as the first wave of pain ripped across her lower regions.

"That would be the first one," Kabuto said, stepping back. "Ride it out. It's not time to push yet."

Anko nodded, hearing her own gasps as they split the silence.

"But quit breathing like that," Kabuto ordered. "You'll hyperventilate. Take calm, purposeful breaths."

The mother-to-be on the cot below him could not recall having been told before to take a "purposeful" breath, and wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but she obliged and tried to take in a steady dose of air in through her nose, out through her mouth.

"That's better… I guess. Wait on the next one."

The two of them waited around. Anko couldn't really make the passage of time make sense, and the only sensation she could feel was a continued throbbing. She knew that wasn't what he was looking for, though – he wanted to know when she felt that same white, flashing pain from earlier. She heard a steady beat in the background of her breathing, and realized after a moment or two that Kabuto had begun to tap his foot.

"This is not good," he finally said, taking brisk steps back over. "Your body should have taken over by itself now."

"Will we be okay?" Anko whispered. In her drugged state, she neglected to realize that she had just referred to herself and the baby as "we" for the first time.

"Possibly. I'm going to have to shift quite a few things, though. It's not going to be comfortable."

Before Anko could react – in whatever capacity Kabuto's serum would allow – she felt his hands on her abdomen once again. However, this time he wasn't lightly touching. He was shoving her and moving something around. The green light was bigger, and she felt a terrible, debilitating pain grip both of her sides.

"Stop it!" she moaned, waving one of her hands towards him helplessly.

"If I did, you would _both_ die. Stop fighting me."

Kabuto continued his activities, and the Anko's pain continued as well. She wondered briefly if she was going to get used to the feeling after a little while – surely any pain would dull after enough repetition – but it never happened. As long as his touch was there, it felt like the area below her waist was on fire. She wondered if the crying out she heard was still hers. It had to be, she finally decided. Nobody else was there.

Despite the continued agony, Anko had stopped trying to interfere with whatever Kabuto was doing. She had resigned herself to gritting her teeth (the promised rag she was supposed to bite down on having been forgotten) gripping the back of the table behind her. However, after a moment, she felt her fingers begin to loosen.

"Am I… am I getting weaker?" she muttered to herself. "Not now. I can't, not yet!"

"Far from it, Anko," a voice replied. "You're as strong as you ever have been. And you shall need every bit of that strength."

Anko was shocked to hear such encouragement from her cold and austere doctor, and even more shocked when she looked at Kabuto, because his mouth wasn't moving.

"Who said that?" she whispered.

"Pay no mind to me," the voice insisted again. "I have your hand. Hold onto mine as tightly as you must."

Anko was startled for a moment to realize that her hand was indeed closed in someone else's. She had the fleeting realization that that must have been what she felt earlier – someone else had loosened her fingers from the top of the cold, hard metal and taken hold of them himself.

"Who are you?" she asked again, distracted momentarily from the pain.

"It doesn't matter," the voice repeated. "Just concentrate."

"Are you that boy – Oro?"

"_Concentrate."_

Anko finally did as she was told, and resigned herself to focusing on Kabuto's actions. However, about the time she decided this, he lifted his arms and stepped back. The first sensation of that followed was one of relief – her insides no longer felt as though they were being crush between his hands, and she took a deep breath.

However, her respite wasn't to last. One of the searing pains from earlier ripped across her stomach yet again. She yelped in surprise, and the hand holding hers tightened.

"Finally!" Kabuto hissed. "Another contraction. On the next one, you need to push."

"I'm scared," Anko whispered.

"There's no need. I'm not going away," the voice said.

Sure enough, another contraction came over her, and Anko heard an urgent voice that was distinctly Kabuto's.

"Push, like I told you. Not later, _now!_"

Anko followed orders yet again, and gave a heaving push. It felt as though something was stretching – something was happening.

_She was making progress!_

"Good, that's good," Kabuto said. "We're finally getting somewhere. It shouldn't be too long until the next one."

Of course, Kabuto was right. Two or three contractions followed in quick succession, and on each one, she pushed when he told her to push and stopped when he told her to stop. As they went on, the sensations of both pain and progress became greater than ever, and she gripped whoever's hand she held so tightly it occurred to her she might risk breaking it. However, the steady stream of coaxing in her ear never paused.

Finally, with one last almighty push, Anko heard the sound of someone else's cries joining hers. These were higher and more frantic.

_The baby – it had to be the baby._

Taking one last sigh of relief, Anko felt her head fall onto her shoulder and she closed her eyes. Unaware that his patient had fallen unconscious, Kabuto continued to examine the baby.

"Huh – she was right," he observed, looking down at the crying child he held. "It is a boy. And I suppose congratulations are in order… to all three of you: mother, child, and father."


	17. Unspoken Truths Spoken

The chapter in which you learn EVERYTHING! :D I know this is a much more timely update than most, but the story is coming to its end within the next few chapters, and I'm anxious to wrap things up. Not because it's not tons of fun, but because I want to see it in its concluded form. ;) So this is the last chapter before Orochimaru's big re-entry, and it explains everything about why Anko was left behind (twice) and what Orochimaru was experiencing and thinking the whole time. I've made every effort to keep it from becoming OC, and I'm proud of how well I've managed to tie in Orochimaru's (fictional) love for Anko with the actual events of the manga. So hopefully ya'll agree!

* * *

When Anko awoke, it was to the same cries that had serenaded her to sleep. She wondered for a moment how it could be so shrill…. And why she couldn't seem to roll over and try to get more sleep. However, when she realized what the wails meant – and remembered the events of the previous night – she was suddenly more alert than ever.

"Baby. Give me my baby," she ordered to whomever happened to be in the general vicinity. Looking around, she saw Kabuto get to his feet and put down the clipboard that had been sitting on his lap.

"Well good morning," he said, his good nature sounding sarcastic at best. "Sleep well?"

"Baby," Anko repeated. "_Now._"

"Calm down, calm down. Here."

Kabuto had picked up a bundle of blankets from a basket next to the bed where Anko lay. He was holding it out, and to Anko's awe, she saw a little face looking back at her from inside.

"Do I… do I take him?"

"Well, he's yours, isn't he?"

With trembling hands, Anko took the baby Kabuto held out. She felt a little clumsy at first, not knowing how to position him in her arms, but she quickly copied the method she had seen other women in the village used to hold their newborns. She found a place for his head to rest in the crook of her left arm, and she cradled him against her chest.

For the first time, she saw his little eyes open.

"He's beautiful," she whispered audibly.

"He's more attractive than most babies who are delivered the traditional way," Kabuto conceded.

However, Anko was unashamedly ignoring him. She was far too enraptured by the appearance of her newborn baby boy. He had the lightest, softest layer of black hair on top of his head, his cheeks were full and pink, and his eyes were a striking golden brown. When Anko looked at him, she didn't see Orochimaru, as so many people (including herself) had feared, and she didn't even see herself. She just saw an amazing, perfect child.

"He's in generally good health," Kabuto said.

Anko finally tuned in to what he was saying.

"_Generally?_"

"He's a small baby, there's no doubt there," Kabuto explained. "But I anticipated that since I had to deliver him a month before he reached full-term. He seems to be doing better than I expected, though. He's breathing well and his vitals are strong. You'll just have to make sure he hits all the developmental landmarks in reasonable time."

"How am I supposed to know when that is?" Anko asked, suddenly worried.

"Well, there are plenty of books, and you ought to take him in for regular check-ups anyway. Besides… are you planning on raising him by yourself?"

Anko was taken aback by this. She hadn't really thought about life _after _the pregnancy. As she gazed down at her perfect, lovely boy, she realized that she had done a very poor job of thinking about what his needs would be once he actually made it into the world. Although she did begrudgingly cut herself a little slack one she realized that at the time, getting him into the world safely was a big enough concern in and of itself.

"_Are_ you?"

Kabuto's repeated question brought Anko back out of the realm of thought and into the real world, where she sat up on a cot in a small, familiar room with a baby in her arms.

"Well, not if I'm taking him back to Konoha, I guess," she said. "I mean… there's people there at least."

"So _are _you taking him back to Konoha?"

Anko could tell she was trying Kabuto's patience, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Hey, it's a lot to think about," she snapped. "Give me some time here."

Kabuto sighed and shook his head.

"Fine. I suppose I'll leave you to think for a few minutes, then. Remember to support the baby's head, and let him sleep if he wants to sleep. I gave him an ounce or so of formula almost immediately after the delivery, but he will be hungry again soon. Do you want me to drop by any more formula?"

Anko looked down at where the baby rested, nestled against her double-D breasts.

"I think I'm pretty well equipped," she replied. "But thanks for the offer."

Kabuto rolled his eyes yet again and proceeded to leave by way of the same door through which he had led her mere hours before – presumably headed back to his laboratory to work on one of his many strange projects.

"So what do you think, little fella?" Anko murmured once she was alone with her baby, pressing a finger lightly against his tiny nose. "Are we going back to the Hidden Leaf Village or what?"

Anko just barely caught herself before she said "going home" – and she changed her wording at the last second intentionally. "Home" seemed like a bit of an exaggeration. Sure, she had friends back in Konoha, and there were even some men who evidently wanted to be more than friends. But over the months she'd spent holed up between the four walls of Kakashi's apartment, she had come up with a lot of realizations about herself – and about her entire world.

She would never be one of them.

The thought didn't make her regretful or wistful or resentful– it was simply a matter of fact. The well-meaning people who had picked her up time and time again and tried to fix her life were good and kind and honest, but their efforts weren't ever really going to pay off. Anko hadn't had a normal start, and her journey wasn't going to be normal either.

Of course, provided Orochimaru didn't force her to stay, she did have the _option_ of going back to Konoha. She could marry Kakashi or even Kiba – if she waited on him a few more years. They could live a peaceful life and forget all the strangeness of her past. Her son's hair could be kept short and they could put a Konoha forehead protector on him, and people would probably overlook the yellowish tinge in his eyes and his pale skin. She would have more children – and these would have wide smiles and brightly-colored hair.

But it wouldn't really be a life – only a semblance of it. There would always be a piece of herself that she was being forced to stifle. A major part of who Anko really was would be locked away in the darkness, and there would always be a voice crying out with a question that would keep her up at night. _What if they knew what she really thought of the world? What if someone saw past the pretense one day and realized how strange and warped her perspective really was?_

_What about __me__?_ She would find herself wondering late at night. _The __true_ _me._

And this time, it wouldn't just be her hiding away behind fake smiles and the pretense of contentment – this was the most heartbreaking part of all. She knew her son would struggle, too. The two of them would be missing pieces, forced back into the wrong puzzle so they didn't quite fit. It would be an easier life, but it would hurt.

The more Anko sat, fed her baby, and reflected back on the time she spent in Konoha during her pregnancy, the more she realized that her path didn't lead back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. But then… where _did _it lead?

* * *

Anko had placed her baby back in his basket next to the bed and was dozing a little bit when Kabuto returned.

"Knock knock," he said as he stepped through the door, jarring Anko from her slumber.

"Yo," she said, blinking and looking around. "What time is it?"

"We're in an underground fortress, so your internal clock is bound to get confounded and set off-track eventually, but it's around eight o'clock PM. I've brought you some food in case you're hungry. I also want to check your son's vital signs again to make sure he's still okay."

"Oh," Anko replied. "That's fine, I guess. What do I get to eat?"

"We're starting you off with something simple and easy to digest," Kabuto replied. "I've already spent the better part of the day cleaning up after you. So it's chicken broth."

Anko shrugged. The sound of it didn't make her stomach turn, which was probably a good sign.

"Okay. I'll drink it slow."

"Probably wise," Kabuto replied, passing her a steaming mug. Anko took a deep breath – it smelled wonderful. When she put it up to her lips and took a sip, it was like life came flooding back into her. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Kabuto lift her son out of his basket, and heard his whimpers as he too began to awaken.

"Hey – careful," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm a doctor," Kabuto snapped. "I know how to take a baby's heartbeat. Just because he's crying doesn't mean I'm doing something wrong."

"Fine, fine."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, punctuated only by the occasional wail or sob of protest from the baby. Anko continued to sip her chicken soup – not quite as slowly as promised, but she had been much hungrier than she realized – and Kabuto gently took measurements of the baby's heart rate and body temperature and wrote them down on the clipboard he carried.

"So are you going to let the baby's father see him?" Kabuto asked all of a sudden. Anko coughed on the chicken broth she was in the middle of drinking, and had to take another sip quickly to wash it down. Kabuto smirked.

"No need for the melodrama," he said, handing the baby back to Anko and accepting her half-finished cup of soup in return. "You should have seen this coming."

Anko's face reddened. She _had_ seen it coming – but it still came as a shock.

"Why should I let him anywhere near my son?" she demanded. "After the way he's treated me all these years?"

Kabuto's smirk faded into an expression of frustration, and he pulled up a chair beside Anko's bed.

"Do you recall when you first got here, and I said that you had a warped idea of your situation?" he asked, putting down both the cup and the clipboard on her bedside table and folding his hands.

"Yeah," Anko replied. "What of it?"

"I think it's time I remedied that by pointing out some facts."

Anko shifted on the pillows and held her baby slightly closer. She felt herself biting down on lip a little bit.

_He hadn't even started talking yet – why was she so nervous?_

"Lord Orochimaru is not the character you make him out to be."

Anko snorted. Her hands might be trembling, but she was going to hang onto her bravado and wit until the last possible moment.

"Is that so?" she demanded, laughing humorlessly. "You're going to have to do a lot of convincing to get me to buy that. The man abandons me as a thirteen-year-old child when all I've done is _worship_ him, then he finally gets me back – only to leave me alone, abandoned, and shivering out in the rain, pregnant with his baby. To make things worse, he tries to wipe my memory of both events, and almost succeeds. I think I have a pretty accurate idea of who he is."

"Well, your frequent use of the word 'abandon' is the first clue to indicate that you don't have a clue what Lord Orochimaru's true motives were," Kabuto began.

"Is that so?"

"Yes – and if you'd stop interrupting me and being impertinent, you might find out how."

Anko made a face and a 'hmph' sound, but she allowed Kabuto to continue.

"You were not abandoned as child," Kabuto said softly. "You were marked for a return to Lord Orochimaru when you came of age. Your sensei certainly didn't _want_ to leave you behind. You might even say that it was the hardest thing he ever had to do. However, he understood that you wouldn't truly mature into the kunoichi you had the potential to become until you were allowed some time with other students, going on missions and travelling our world. He wanted you to be the best you could possibly be, so he abandoned his selfish desire to keep you beside him and found a way to make sure you ended up back at the leaf village. He was terrified at the notion of losing you, so he marked you the only way he knew how – the Cursed Seal of Heaven."

"The mark was a way to _keep up with me_?" Anko demanded. "When I was with him before… he was telling the truth?"

"Simply put, yes. He also feared for your safety, despite your impressive skills, so the seal ensured that some of his power would remain with you no matter how far away you strayed. He knew you would be devastated to lose him as well, so he thought the transition would be easier if he performed a jutsu to wipe your memory. It's an impossibly difficult technique, and that was his first time using it, so it was a bit clumsy on his standards. However, it served its purpose at the time. You awoke with your new mark, unsure of what had happened or how to find him, and he left you conveniently placed where he knew an ANBU squad would be passing."

A lump was beginning to rise in Anko's throat – but she still had unanswered questions.

"What about all the things he said to me, though?" she demanded. "When he left me behind that day? He even asked me to go with him. And he told me that I was only one of a bunch of kids he had given the mark."

"Reverse psychology, Anko, and mostly lies. The point is, he knows you better than anyone. He knew that if he humiliated you by suggesting that you were only one of many options as a student – rather than his one and only – and then he offered to let you go with him, your pride wouldn't allow you to give in. You might say that it was a bit of extra insurance that you wouldn't try to come back even if the memory-loss jutsu didn't hold out."

Anko's eyes were wide with unspoken disbelief.

"But that's only the beginning of the story," Kabuto said. "You _did_ get your memories back, and you assumed everything Lord Orochimaru wanted you to. However, you also did something he hadn't banked on: you got your mark sealed. When you did that, he had to do something, because his lifeline to you had been cut."

"So he came to find me," Anko whispered.

"Not _exactly_. More like he made sure you would come to him. And the plan worked, of course. Even better than he had anticipated. That's what happened when you first came back. It was really the only time since he gave you the mark that he'd ever been entirely honest with you."

"Then why did he leave me again?" Anko demanded. "Things were perfect!"

"Too perfect," Kabuto said softly. "Guilt began to set in, mostly because of one statement you made. Do you recall saying that 'nothing about your life mattered, as long as you could be with him'?"

"Yeah," Anko replied. "It was the night we were lying down next to each other, the first time I'd… you know… let him sleep in my bed. And it was true."

"And he knew that," Kabuto replied. "But he also knew that his health was slipping, he was involved in plenty of illicit activities to learn new jutsu, and he knew that you had a life back in Konoha. He realized that he could be taking everything away from you just because he was afraid of losing you, and the guilt from over a decade before set in again. He was more confident in his memory-loss jutsu this time around, but it would appear that you don't give in as easily as most."

Anko's hands trembled as she held onto her baby, who had drifted back to sleep. At least _he _could be oblivious to the way his mother's world was crashing down and being built back up in strange, unfathomable new ways.

"But what about the baby?" Anko whispered, her voice cracking.

"Lord Orochimaru didn't know about that until an informant brought the news back to him. You knew long before he did. And besides, he didn't intentionally leave you in a dangerous place. You were only in the woods for an hour or so before the search squad found you, and you were accompanied the entire time. Orochimaru sent a representative from Sound to follow you back and make sure you were unharmed."

"The spy!" Anko exclaimed, suddenly fearful and guilty. "But… he poisoned himself."

"He ingested a powerful sedative," Kabuto corrected. "It puts the body in a state of suspended animation. As soon as it wore off, I can assure you he sat up in Konoha's morgue, pulled off his toe tag, and raced back to Orochimaru to tell him everything he had learned – which included the news of your pregnancy. Apparently the two loose-tongued jounin of whom you're so fond – Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai – didn't keep their voices down when they went to examine the body."

Kabuto smirked.

"Naturally, Orochimaru wanted to bring you back as soon as he could, but I advised him against it. I told him he would only change his mind again, and this time he would be abandoning two. So he begrudgingly allowed you to stay, but you weren't cut off from him like you had been before. You may have noticed the seal was missing on your curse mark after your return."

"You're right!" Anko exclaimed. "In all the confusion and calamity over the baby, I didn't even realize that it was strange I was feeling the mark again."

"Precisely. So, your health and location were monitored. You were doing quite well, but I was still sent to ensure your progress in person around the time you began your second trimester. I didn't see you in person for quite some time because you were shut up in that apartment constantly, but I remained in the village and learned what I could from hearsay and snooping in the Hokage's medical files. The night I saw you and Kakashi leave the apartment and go out for dinner, I knew I had found my chance.

"I was fairly certain I was going to bring you back to Orochimaru regardless, seeing as I had grown tired of first listening to his complaints and later being away from my lab on babysitting duty, but when I saw you, the decision might as well have been made for me."

Kabuto's eyebrows rose.

"You were not only miserable, but you were also in danger of losing your child. So I intervened and brought you back here. Orochimaru was angry, at first, but I explained the circumstances and he was much more accommodating. But even when you awoke, he didn't want to indulge your misplaced hatred by approaching you himself. So he placed you in a room – this room – made to resemble the one you occupied in the cabin where you grew up. And moreover, he sent a sort of messenger ahead to gauge your reactions and suggest the idea that he might not be evil incarnate."

"_Oro…_"

"So that's what he called himself? Interesting. Your 'Oro' was a shadow clone, but the spirit he embodied was Lord Orochimaru himself. All the sentiments of concern and regret he expressed belong only to Orochimaru himself."

Anko was shaking her head.

"None of this could possibly be true," she insisted. "It's… it's too much to take in."

"And strangely… it _is _true_. _Every bit of it. I believe you're up to speed, Mitarashi-san… so tell me: after all the things he's done, are you going to allow Lord Orochimaru to meet his child?"


	18. A Reunion and Epilogue

Anko was stunned into silence. A few minutes before, the answer would have been an unequivocal "no." However, that was before she realized that everything she had known – or, rather, _assumed _– over the previous fifteen years had been a lie. What Kabuto had said changed absolutely everything, and she knew the right answer to his question. Taking a deep breath, she mustered her courage.

"Yes. He deserves to see his son. And… there are things that he and I need to talk about."

Though it was more of a smirk, Kabuto couldn't help but give her a knowing smile.

"I figured you would see it his way. Now then, shall I get him?"

"Yes," Anko said again. "But please… wait just a few minutes. I need to get my thoughts together and make sure the baby is ready for company."

"If you insist," Kabuto replied. "But I'll only be able to delay him for so long. He has been pacing the corridors all morning."

* * *

Anko had been staring blankly at the door for a long time when she heard the soft knock. It wasn't as though she was surprised – in fact, she had been waiting the better part of an hour for the knock to occur – but that didn't stop the air from rushing out of her lungs and the blood in her veins from turning cold. Holding her baby to her chest tightly, she took a deep breath.

"Come in."

There was the sound of a knob turning and a slight creak – and there he was. Orochimaru.

He looked perfectly, _eerily as he always had. _Slender, his dark hair contrasting dramatically – beautifully – with his alabaster skin. A confident expression with a slight smirk.

"Good morning, Anko. Sleep well?" he asked, his expression calm and unaffected.

"Mmhmm," Anko replied. As much as she hated to admit it, her lower lip was trembling violently, and her hands shook.

His expression softened – he had noticed her apprehension.

"Anko, no need to fear me now. You know the truth."

"I'm… not afraid. That's not it at all. Don't you understand?"

When Orochimaru wordlessly sat down on her bed beside her, Anko's resolve finally gave out. The exhaustion of the delivery, the improbability of Kabuto's story, and the emotion that came with seeing the man she loved again all became too much. She collapsed onto his shoulder sobbing. The newborn she held made a soft whining sound, as though attuned to his mother's suffering by some eternal, indescribable bond.

"Let the tears flow Anko… they'll heal you."

"But… you never let me cry as a child," Anko sniffled, her head still buried in his robes.

"That's quite true. But it was only because I was raising you to be strong, resilient, and self-reliant. But you've proven to me ten times over that you possess all of these qualities… a few well-deserved tears will hardly hurt you now."

These words of comfort only served to make Anko cry all the harder – but her companion didn't say anything. Instead, he sat silently while she cried out fifteen years' worth of pain, fear, and confusion. Finally, exhausted and breathless, she sat up and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of the hospital garment she wore.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she said hoarsely. "That was stupid."

"Hardly," Orochimaru replied. "But… are you finished now?"

Anko nodded, trying to stiffen her upper lip.

"I am. I should… well, we need to talk."

"I agree," Orochimaru said, his voice softer than Anko had perhaps ever heard it. "I owe you many apologies that I am too proud to admit."

"That's fine," Anko sighed, rubbing her eyes. "What's done is done. I've always kind of thought of apologies as wasted words anyway."

"One of the many things we have in common."

Anko nodded, a smile playing at her lips.

"Did Kabuto tell you all he told me?"

"Enough to know that you have a very good idea of what's gone on in my mind and in my world over the past twenty years. Anko, the day I met you I knew that I would do anything in the entire world: moral, immoral, damaging, controlling, hurtful, or otherwise, to make sure that you belonged to me and no one else. And my resolve hasn't weakened. In fact, it grows stronger by the day. Because as the days go by, I understand more and more fully that there is no one else in the world with whom I have the connection that you and I share."

Anko looked up at him, her expression profound.

"I finally figured that out too," she replied. "I tried so very hard, over these past few months, to be happy with someone else. But with anyone but you… it's like a puzzle piece that won't fit. I even thought I hated you, up until a few minutes ago. But even when I felt that way, it didn't make me happy with all the boys who tried to convince me to stay with them. A part of me – a big part – has always been right here."

"Then you agree," Orochimaru said. "You know that together… is the only way."

Anko nodded solemnly.

"But… What will I tell the people in Konoha?" she asked after a moment.

"Fools. You don't have to tell them anything."

"But that's not fair to them," Anko insisted. "They took me in for a long time, when I thought I didn't have anyone left. I owe them a lot more than I'm going to be able to pay back, but something as small as a goodbye is non-negotiable. I guess I'll just write them a letter or something. Either way, it's not something I want to worry about in this moment."

"I'll never be able to understand the way you feel so deeply for others."

Anko laughed a little bit.

"It's a weakness you never got me to grow out of, I guess."

She continued to smile, and the two sat in a peaceful silence for a moment. However, Anko suddenly became aware of the way Orochimaru was attempting to peer over the jumble of blankets she cradled in her arms.

"I'm not thinking!" she exclaimed. "I haven't even introduced you two."

Anko put the baby gently on the bed in front of her. After brushing a stray lock of hair back into place, she pulled the blankets away from his face and admired him for a moment.

"What do you think?" Anko asked softly, turning around to face Orochimaru.

She was shocked to see the latter – who was forever composed and the master of his emotions – had a blank, wide-eyed look on his face.

"Is he really… ours?" Orochimaru asked, his expression almost one of confusion.

"Of course he is!" Anko said. "Who else's would he be?"

"I don't know. I just can't imagine that I could be a part of something so innocent and perfect."

Anko gave Orochimaru a long look. It started out as awe at the beauty of what he had just said, but somewhere along the way, it became a look of sympathy. He had given away so much over the years, and it had all been for her. But despite the pain of his sacrifice, nothing had gone the way he planned. Everything fell apart no matter how much he gave away. After all his selflessness, he was still sitting at her side silently pleading for mercy.

Feeling the impulse to draw closer to him – and not having the strength to deny it – Anko gave her former sensei a soft kiss on the lips.

"You could, and you did," she said quietly, meeting his gaze. "He's really yours – just as much as he's mine. And that's another reason why it's so important that he and I stay here. Me and… the baby."

"Does he have a name?" Orochimaru asked, noticing her hesitation.

"Not yet," Anko admitted. "I tried to think of a few way back, right after I found out he was a boy. But I couldn't come up with anything I liked back then. I tried harder after he was born."

She paused, and Orochimaru gave her a look of confusion.

"Did you come up with anything then?"

"No," Anko said finally. "Because then… I knew that I wanted you to help me."

Wordlessly, Orochimaru sat down on the bed beside Anko and pulled her close to him. She could feel herself being drawn in and surrounded by the man she was finally accepting that she loved. The feeling only intensified when he laced the fingers of his left hand through hers and held on tightly. Anko had to fight back more tears as she felt herself relax for the first time in what seemed like months. Everything was finally as it should be. She had been waiting her entire life for that moment to come.

"What about Otomaru?" Orochimaru breathed softly in her ear. "A sort of a tribute to his father's village. Wherever he goes, he will always know that he has an identity and a home."

"I like it," Anko replied. "Home… home is good."

* * *

_Dear Konoha (and by Konoha, I pretty much mean Kakashi, Tsunade, and Kiba):_

_I'm sorry if I've scared all of you. Again. I mean, it wasn't my choice to get kidnapped on the way back from the restaurant. But then again, I probably could have done more about it once I got here if I had really wanted to. So it's still kind of my fault._

_Anyway… to answer the million dollar questions, I guess:_

_1) Yes, I'm safe._

_2) Yes, I have a baby. He's a boy, and his name is Otomaru. He's healthy and beautiful. I've included a picture to prove it._

_3) Yes, I'm staying here._

_And, for what it's worth… I'm sorry._

_I'm sorry for causing so much trouble when I got kidnapped (both times), I'm sorry for fucking around with your hearts (not yours, Tsunade, but you get the idea), and I'm sorry for deciding not to go back to Konoha. But there are a lot of things you have to understand._

_First of all, I'm not like you guys. I know we're all strange and broken in our own ways, but I think I take it a step further. I've never fit in. That may sound trite, but it's the truth. I'm never going to be able to do what people in Konoha are supposed to do, anyway; I don't have any desire to settle down there, get married, and play house while still taking life-threatening missions all over the world. It's not my calling. And don't bother with all that 'but we love you anyway' stuff, please… it's not that I don't think you mean it. It's that if I stayed there, I couldn't love me._

_My place is here. Otomaru needs to be with his father… and I need to be with his father._

_Orochimaru is simply the only person who will ever understand me. I know you all struggle with that and say he's evil or twisted, and you might be right. But when I'm with him, I know who I am and who I want to be. And he and I have a long way to go, but we're making amends. I believe this can work out for the better._

_Kakashi, this is for you… I'm extra sorry in your case. You opened your home up to me, and I was dealing with too much of my own shit to show the proper gratitude. You were the best friend I could have asked for. I'm sorry if you wanted me to be more than that, but I just couldn't handle it at that point. And even now, when I look back, I realize that it was for the better that I didn't try. Forgive me if I'm being too blunt, but please take that pink-haired student of yours out to dinner sometime. You'd have to be blind to miss the way she looks at you, and she's a sweet kid. Age is just a number – Oro and I prove that._

_Kiba, I have something special to tell you, too: you are a really cool person. That may not sound like much, but I don't say that to just anybody. You saw me as a person when everybody else was treating me like some kind of baby-incubator, and I won't ever be able to thank you enough for that. I'm sorry if I led you on, but I'm not sorry for what we had. You gave me something nobody else did at a time when I needed it desperately. The necklace you gave me is still with me, and I am going to keep it forever. Again, I may be too blunt, but I'm already dealing out romantic advice… so I'm going to tell you to buy that quiet girl some flowers. She would really like that._

_Sorry I don't have anything extra special to say to you, Tsunade. I guess all I've got is a plea not to take the whole Orochimaru thing too badly. You know him well, but still not as well as you think you do. Believe me, I wouldn't be wasting my time here if he was anything like the way you think of him. In case you need some proof, remember that botched abortion? It was his own chakra that protected our son. That has to count for something – he kept me from making the biggest mistake of my life._

_All three of you played a very important part in getting Otomaru into the world, and that's my biggest source of gratitude. He's the light of my life, and he amazes me every day. He has his father's skill and my looks, so he's going to be the best ninja ever. Haha. But seriously – he's the most amazing human being I've ever seen. And you all helped me make this happen._

_So, in conclusion… I'm sorry, and thank you, and I hope our paths cross again one day. If they do, please don't throw any senbon needles my way. I wouldn't (and couldn't) ever betray Konoha, because I'll always feel so deeply for everyone there. Cross my heart and hope to die. Give my love to everybody, and show off Otomaru's picture. I'm sure he'll be at a chuunin exam in the not-too-distant future._

_Sincerely,_

_Anko Mitarashi_


End file.
